


Story Driven One Shots

by Wealthywetsunny



Series: One Shots [3]
Category: FarCry 5
Genre: Army, Capture au, F/M, Marines, Military, Military Rook, Wings, angel au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2019-08-20 21:10:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 50
Words: 84,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16563197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wealthywetsunny/pseuds/Wealthywetsunny
Summary: Coming over from my FarCry One Shots series, where I've written some things that have basically turned into their own stories at this point, I'll be now putting them over here. As I've been told that would make it more convenient and would make it easier to follow the plots.Remember, as always, requests on what happens next in the one shots are welcome, so long as they have to do with the au's I am already working with





	1. Story Summaries

The Au's that I am working on at the moment are listed as follows (They may change if more get continuously requested)

*Military Rook au

*Angel Rook au

*Captured Rook au [Not found by Dutch at the start of the game]

*Elemental Seed au

*Pregnant Caught au

*a/b/o au

*Forced Marriage with Joseph

*Omegaverse Alpha Female

*PolySeed Bunker

*m!Rook a/b/o 

*Letters (Rook used to know Joseph before she came to Hope County)

*Teasing Joseph/Rook

*False Prophet John Fic 

*Seed Brothers noncon*

 

 If you want to see a one shot concerning one of the au's listed above please leave a comment.


	2. [Military Rook pt 1] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Hardened, tough Deputy who’s ineffective to Jacob’s methods, they end up having aggressive, angry sex

“You’re stronger than I thought. Hard. Cold. Got this look in your eyes sometimes that makes me think you’re remembering something.” His fingers threaded through her hair, yanking so she was forced to look up at him. “What is it? Some past trauma? Do I remind you of someone?” She swallowed thickly, let her eyes meet his, knew that was the easiest way to please him.

From her position on the floor he easily towered over her, even if he was just leaning back on his heels. His thumb from his opposing hand moved over the bruises and cuts he had given her. Then down to her ribs, shown so clearly from days of starvation.

“You’re not easy to scare. Giving me a run for my money. Making Joseph question me; my strategies.”

Jacob pulled her up by her hair, made her face close, inches from his. Let her eyes roam over his scars for a brief moment. “Do I intimidate you?”

Rook bared her teeth for a second. A show of dominance that no one even thought about doing when faced with the soldier.

“Better start answering my questions pup.”

“Or what?”

“It’ll get so much worse than this. I’ve got a lot of tricks up my sleeves. Been doing this for a while, longer than you’ve been alive I bet.”

She let out a gasp when he dropped her suddenly to stand at his full height. He paced back and forth in the small space of her cage he had invited himself in to.

“I’ve done this before too, Jacob. Been right here, lying in the dirt with a guy staring me down showing his strength with harsh punishments. Only difference being that I think the one who did this before you had a bit of a Napoleon complex. Think he was compensating for something.” Her eyes trailed between his legs. “Still trying to figure you out.”

He turned sharply on his heel. A curious gleam shown that he hid quickly with a scowl. He opened up his mouth, ready to chastise her on the back talk she was still giving him after all he’s done to her. “You’ve been to war Jacob. You know it just as well as I do. You see, there was this one time that I was on enemy lines. A stupid last minute fill in, shouldn’t have ran ahead. I was young and naive and didn’t understand my own mortality. Thought I was invincible.” Rook stood on shaking feet. Rubbing the tender spot where he had grabbed her.

“From the way you speak I guess you’ve never been a prisoner of war. And since I have, I’m also guessing you think I’m weak.”

Jacob took a step forward, hand outstretched to steady her when she staggered. She slapped him away, reaching to push against his bicep. This time he’d let it slide. Considering what she just told him…no, he wasn’t about to poke the bear.

“I went through hell. Endured worse. Stared down bigger and badder. So go ahead. Come at me Jacob. Try to break me, wear me down.” She walked towards him, invading his space, holding onto his shoulders and getting in his face. “C’mon Jacob. Let’s fight. Because what happened a few years back when I was stuck in a foreign country, it made me so strong. Taught me a lot.”

Her hand moved to the nape of his neck. Squeezing tightly on a pressure point that made him cringe inwardly. “David and Goliath right?”

Her knee came up to hit him right where it hurt. He crumbled. The large wolf that he was. Collapsed right on the ground.

“Lambs got some fight left in her, huh sweetheart.”

The nerve he had. Still spewing words like he was in charge.

Rook jumped on him, straddling his waist and wrapping fingers tight around his neck. “I’ve been itching to do that for a while. Been wanting to put you in your place.”

“As flattered as I am, I prefer being the one on top. But I sure as hell don’t mind roughhousing.” His arms went to cross behind his head. Acting as if this was just a game. “But I’ll let you have your fun for now. Let you think you’re good enough to beat me.”

Her eyes clenched shut as she drew her hands away. Placing them on the middle of his chest. She took a deep breath, squashing down her wrath.

“You’ve got a big ego Jacob. One day someones gonna come along and fix that.” Her hand snaked down to brush along the knife he had sheathed to his thigh. Teasing the idea.

His eyes were closed. She took that moment to press the blade into the soft skin of his neck. “You’re so courageous huh? With that whole ‘not afraid to die’ schicht. Seen it before.”

“Back when you were a POW.”

She ignored him, acted like he hadn’t said a thing. Pretended that he hadn't bothered to pose that as a question. “But I’ve also seen that change real quick when the time draws closer and they are on the verge of death, begging for their life.”

“Hate to spoil your fun pup, but I don’t beg.”

The knife moved up to his cheek, drawing a tiny amount of blood. Not enough to raise his concern. Instead he say still, let her mess with him. He’d be lying if he said he hated it.

“You will soon. They always do.”

“Did you?”

“Of course. We get reduced to something less than human when they put us under those circumstances.” Jacob didn’t ask what circumstances she was referring to. He had dragged up some old memories of hers and was already walking on thin ice.

Rook drew back, holding the knife against her chest before placing it over the bulge in his jeans. “This exciting you Jacob?”

“What can I say? You’re just full of surprises honey. A different breed that I haven’t encountered yet. Fighting back, the strength, those tough words.” Jacob moved to prop himself up on his elbows. One hand moving slowly to palm at himself. His hips jumped up, making her grab onto his midsection for balance.

“It’s okay to want this. I can tell how much you enjoyed it when I was throwing you around earlier. Your cheeks were flushed, pupils dilated, mouth hanging open like you couldn’t get enough air.”

“I couldn’t. Think you cracked my rib.”

He grunted, making his hips jerk again. One large hand moved to rest on her lower back. “You gonna fight me on this?”

“Fuck off.” She resisted how he tried to pull her closer. Not like he was putting all his strength into it.

“Keep saying shit like that and I might fall in love.”

The knife was at his throat in an instant. She hovered over him. Fist balled up in his short hair. He was teasing, didn’t mean what he said, but he was having too much fun.

Rook took a shuddering breath and rolled her body down on him. Gasping when a pulse of arousal ran through her stomach.

Before she could react she was manhandled roughly upwards. Being dragged along by the nape of her neck and was pressed into the bars of the cage. Her gaze flicked around the open area, no one was watching, no peggies were close enough to see. But still. Dangerous to do this.

“Get off.” She wiggled her hips against his crotch.

“You’re enjoying this. Don’t think I didn’t see how you were squeezing your thighs together.” Jacob’s hand reached around to slip down her pants, rubbing over the fabric of her panties. “I’m getting you all wet. You like fighting me.” He laughed breathlessly as if he wasn’t in the same situation as her. It was mocking and cruel and she was pissed.

He spun her around abruptly. Forcing her hands to rest on his shoulders. “These stay here pup.”

As he got busy working her pants and underwear off, she slid her hands down his jacket, helping him shuck it off. When she was bare from the waist down he lifted her up, pressing her spine into the metal to keep her upright as her legs wrapped around him.

“Take your shirt off.”

He growled. A snarl rising from his throat. “Demanding.” He still didn’t listen, instead reaching under her shirt to squeeze her breasts. Tugging at her nipples, pushing her bra aside.

Rook leaned forward. Biting at his neck. It wasn’t soft, it drew blood and made him pull back to look at her. “I said,” her hands reached down his shirt to rake her nails across the skin of his shoulder blades. “Take it off.”

The look he gave her was incredulous. Like he couldn’t believe this was happening. No one was brave enough to act this way around him. Especially when they were at his mercy. It only served to get his dick harder.

With one hand he tossed his grey tee shirt behind him, piling on the dirt with the rest of their clothes.

He lips pushed against hers in a rough kiss. Nothing about him was gentle. It was commanding. A silent order with each touch.

With no warning she was dropped. Landing right on her ass and making her wince at the pain that lanced up and down her body. In the blink of an eye his pants had pooled around his feet and she was being grabbed again to stare at Jacob Seed’s cock. It was thick and curled upward, uncircumcised and bigger than she thought. Hidden in a mess of light hair, so light it could be called blonde instead of ginger. It’s like the man never heard of grooming. Not like she had much time to worry about that. He was forcing her head down onto him quickly.

She placed her hands on his thighs, rubbing up and down before going around to grab his ass. Squeezing and groaning around him.

“You get real pliant when someone shoves a cock in your mouth. Hell, if I would’ve known that. The things I could’ve made you do.” He pushed himself in deeper. Making her choke and gag. “You ready to beg pup? You’ve done it before, for a different man. I’m jealous. Wanna hear you plead for me.” For a brief moment he let her suck in air, let her take a few gasping breaths before she shook her head and muttered out a string of curse words.

“Fine. Your choice.”

He grabbed her upper arms, suddenly shoving her down into the earth so she was laying on her stomach. Jacob was on her in an instant. Leaning into her and letting his cock rub up and down her slit. “Stay. For five fucking seconds just listen for once in your life.” There was no time to respond. Not with how he was filling her up so nicely. Moving at a breakneck pace. Slamming their hips together. Her ass rippled with the force he was using. Her breasts swinging. Fingerprint bruises were forming on her hips with the position he chose.

“Ah. You’re doing so well. Taking me like you are. Not fighting.”

Her face scrunched up. Bottom lip bitten roughly. “Beg for me. You wanna cum, want me to cum inside you. Then you’ll beg.”

“Not doing that. Haven’t done that shit in years.”

“Hm. Shame.” Jacob pulled out abruptly. Leaving her with her ass in the air. Cunt dripping with her juices. He spanked her, making her jolt forward, going to grab his clothes and unlock the cage.

She was breathing fast, heart hammering.

“You can’t just leave me here.” She scrambled to stand, rushing over to the bars. He simply shook his head, walking away without a care in the world. Like he wasn’t naked, the door to go inside was a short walk...but still.

Her foot knocked into his red knife. He must’ve forgotten it.

As a last second decision. Before he could leave her alone, she grabbed it, twirling it in her hands and taking aim.

The hit landed right in his thigh. Making him fall and curse loudly.

“Still got some fight left in me right Jacob, you said it yourself. Come back tomorrow. I’ll show you something else!”


	3. [Military Rook pt 2] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Rook’s continuous taunts as she’s bound and being tortured gets herself punished in a whole new way

It was sick and cruel. What he was doing to her. Taking a whip to her skin, making her bloody beyond recognition. He was a man who didn’t blink an eye when he moved on to break her fingers. Threatening to knock her teeth in and peel her skin off in homage to his little brother.

The taunts she shot his way wasn’t helping her case. It made him go harder at her. Made his hits so much stronger when he curled his hands into menacing fists and drove them into her.

“C’mon dep. This would end if you’d just tell me.”

She shook her head violently, head tipping back and gazing at the chains keeping her bound to the wall. Another punch to her gut had her wheezing, spitting what suspiciously looked like fragments of her teeth at his feet. “I’m not a Judas. Not about to sell my friends out.”

Jacob chuckled, stepping forward to grab her jaw and make her look at him. “If you’re worried about how they’ll react then I’d be more than happy to keep you in witness protection. No one’ll fuck with you so long you’re by my side. Locked up in one of my cages.”

“God, you know what? Fuck you.”

He rose an eyebrow, hand grabbing the knife that was holstered on his thigh. Holding it up to the light, keeping it close to her eyes so she could see the flakes of blood that stained the metal. He sliced her stomach, tearing through cotton and cutting into her skin. A diagonal stripe of blood slipped down her torso.

“Big strong man, beating on someone who can’t fight back.

Her hair was yanked up, pulling at the roots. “The next words that come outta your mouth better be answers.”

Rook pursed her lips, humming in thought. “You know, with all this commotion going on, I forgot the question. Whoops.” She shrugged as much as she could with the chains weighing on her limbs. The small smile she gave, aiming for levity, pulled at her muscles, making her wince.

“The Wolf’s Den. Where is it?”

She was silent. Watching the red saliva, colored by her blood, drip from her mouth and stain the beige tip of Jacob’s boot. Militant, reminding her of who she once was, the woman who fought valiantly and took shit from no one. The woman who knew first hand what torture was like, what true camaraderie was. He didn’t know her that well if he thought she was about to give in. She was a soldier as much as he was.

“Jacob. I’ve heard things about your past. And I just figured that you, out of all people would have the decency to never hit a woman or child, you know? Cause if anyone ever does that, they are scum, there’s a special spot in hell for people like you.”

His hand wrapped around her throat quicker than she could process. “I’ve never hurt a kid. Never would. Stop talking about shit you know nothing about Deputy.”

“Maybe—“ She sputtered and coughed as he tightened his hold on her neck. A warning that she was absolutely not going to listen to. “Maybe you’re one of those men who like control because their own life is so fucked up. Bet you get off on people who are tied up, at your mercy. Or even people who don’t want it. Who fight you and you just take from them what they don’t want to give. You’re power crazy.”

Jacob sunk his teeth in her jugular. Biting until there was the distinct sound of skin snapping under pressure. The rush of blood pooled in his mouth and dripped into his beard when he pulled away to show off sharp incisors.

“Bet you’re hard right now.” God she just couldn’t shut up. Had to keep pushing. It wasn’t even pride, it was those damn military drills running through her head. The things she’s been taught since day one when taken by the enemy. You can’t be a sellout, that was the rule written in red, engraved into her mind.

“Honey, you really wanna go there?”

“Already there Jacob, no turning back. Thing is, are you actually going to answer any of my questions without hurting me? Without punching me? There are other ways to handle a situation without your fists.”

When all he gave her was a blank murderous look she merely chuckled in the confined space they were sharing. “What? Did your daddy never teach you that?”

It was a mistake to bring up his father, to even tease the idea that he’d lay a hand on a child, that he’d rape someone. She knew it’d bring up some memories, just figured he wouldn’t let his anger get the better of him. He wasn’t like John.

And yet he was quick to slash off her clothes. A glare held strong between them as he tore off the fabric covering her like they were nothing more than paper.

“You want me to do something other than hurt ya pup? That it? You’re practically begging me at this point to touch you with those fucking loose lips of yours.” One of his large hands palmed roughly at her breast. Still partially concealed in her too small bra. “You’re just as strong as me, different methods would be more effective, more beneficial to the both of us.”

His other hand reached down to dive into her panties, humming his approval when he found her wet. A slickness gathered between her thighs.

“Well. Lookie there. Seems like you like this just as much as I do Deputy.”

“Fuck—“ her voice got cut off when he jammed his wet fingers down her throat. Choking her on them. Making her gag as he prodded around.

“Quiet. Take this punishment and shut up.”

His lips were at her neck. Nibbling up to her ear, drawing back down to her collar bone. Not bothering to soothe the bites. Letting her squirm at the exposure she felt.

Jacob dropped to his knees, pulling her panties down and reaching around to grab her ass, kneading them, pulling her closer so his tongue could delve between her folds. He wasn’t merciful. And hell, she could admit that she deserved this. Deserved how he got her to come and didn't stop at the first one. He kept going until she was screaming at him. Cursing up a storm. If not for the chains holding her to the wall she would’ve fallen over.

“Not so strong now dep. Not so tough.” He thumbed at her wet cheeks. Smile tugging at his lips. He kissed her, invading her mouth with his tongue, making her recoil at the taste of herself. “What?” He pouted, faux sympathy. “Wish you shut up?” He chuckled when she glared. “Poor thing.”

Jacob pulled his cock out. Stroking roughly. Forearm braced on the wall next to her head. Hot air puffing out near her ear.

He ended up cuming across her mound. Bringing his hand down to gather up his seed that caught in the divots of her hips and shoved it deep inside her.

“We aren’t done.” Rook whined. Eyes meeting his and silently pleading. “Not even close, you gotta learn pup.” He tapped her cheek twice, like he was petting a dog. It was a little too harsh to be considered friendly. This was gonna be a long day.


	4. [Military Rook pt 3] Jacob/John/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: First off, Ive now made this whole soldier/Military Rook into a series now since I’ve already got three parts going and s fourth one on the way, I went back a labaled it to let people know they are from the same timeline or universe.
> 
> Secondly, this one is where Rook tries to choke Jacob out with her legs like total badass but gets blissed before she could finish him off. When she wakes up she is tied up with John and Jacob there. She’s ballgagged, spanked, eaten out, fucked and driven into overstimulation

She was shaking. Hands trembling and knees clacking together from the slow moving crouching walk she was doing that was putting too much strain on her muscles. Keeping low to the ground and cupping a hand over her mouth. Too paranoid to let out her panting breaths. Scared that the groups of Peggies littered around Jacob’s compound would hear her and wouldn’t hesitate to fill her with bullets.

She never thought she’d see the day when she was sneaking in to his fenced in community instead of out. But Jacob was getting out of control and the Whitetails had some fucked up sense that she was immortal. A hero in their books. If anyone could take down Jacob; apparently it was her. Rook wouldn’t admit to the absolute terror that filled her when Eli and Tammy told her where they were sending her next, with the opportunity to decline of course.

Not that she really could. If Jacob caught wind of that, that she tucked her tail between her legs and didn’t take this chance in bringing him down, she’d never hear the end of it.

It was her pride that had her crawling in the mud. Risking her life. Dodging between bliss barrels and crates filled with ammo and guns of worrying sizes.

Her weapons were lacking. Either too big and clunky to have on her person or too loud, something that wouldn’t help her if she wanted to get out of here alive once Jacob laid dead on the ground.

That thought drove her forward. Made her move a little faster and into a large building that was devoid of anyone at first glance. Her luck was still going strong. Surging her towards his office, reported as being a small room at the end of the hallway, third floor. She prayed that the whitetail that mapped out Jacob’s compound was right, that his memory wasn’t skewed from the conditioning. She didn’t need to be here all night searching for him.

When Rook twisted the knob and let the door creak open, she froze. Chest tightening painfully.

Jacob was there all right. Back towards her. Inspecting a map pinned to a cork board littered with papers and pictures she couldn’t make out from how far she was.

He held a clipboard in his left hand, right hand clinging to a pen that he swirled around his fingers. Humming under his breath and blissfully unaware that she was lurking behind him. A tragic end for such a strong man. A man to be killed in a second from a mere choke out. It wasn’t at all fitting, almost anti climatic.

She snorted, walking over the linoleum and rising to her full height. Hesitating for a beat too long as he went to turn around. He was taller than her, she couldn’t just wrap an arm around his neck and hope he’d go down easy. She had the element of surprise, she’d be stupid not to use it.

Rook grabbed him by his jacket, shoving him to the ground, even playing field. They were on the hard floor quicker than he could process. He didn’t have time to react. Didn’t have the right angle either. Not when she wrapped her legs around his neck. A position that rendered him useless. Only allowing him to flounder, claw at her thighs.

She didn’t feel bad. Not after what he’s done to her and countless of other families. He deserved to be choked out like this. The only consolation he gets from this death was being killed by a fellow soldier, someone who has been trained just as rigorously as he had. He didn’t even get to know his killer. And that was fine with her.

The sudden pressure of someone grabbing her around the neck had her grip on Jacob’s throat loosen. Enough for the large man to snap her legs away from him. She was kept lucid long enough for her to get a good look at the smug expression on his face. How he smiled at whoever plunged a bliss filled needle into her skin.

“Fuck. Guess I owe ya one. Huh John?”

*****

When she came to it was with all feeling lost in her hands and feet. A numb tingling sensation that had her mind in a flurry of panic trying to piece together what the hell was going on.

It didn’t take her very long to trace the breeze that tickled her skin, to realize that the goosebumps rising along her flesh was because she was bare of any clothes. Arms strung up directly above her, face turned to the side as her cheek pressed into the hard mattress below her. She was on her knees, ass in the air with her legs tied to keep her somewhat splayed in a vulnerable position.

She clamped down on her fear, there wasn’t any room for that. Not when the last thing she remembered was Jacob Seed looming over her, regarding her with cool eyes that told her she was a dead woman.

“You awake pup?”

Rook stilled her breathing, mustering up the courage she knew she shouldn’t flaunt around like a proud animal and spoke clearly. Not letting her voice waver when faced with a guy like Jacob.

“Yeah, And I can't say I’m too pleased with it.”

He let out a low chuckle. Heavy footsteps beating out to the tune of her pulse. She was eye level with his crotch, already bulging from looking at the position she had been in for an hour. “No? That’s a shame.” He reached out to run a crooked finger across her cheek, laughing when she snarled at him, curses falling from her lips. “Wasn’t my idea Deputy, don’t get mad at me.”

That gave her pause. Made her track Jacob’s line of sight to catch a flurry of brown and blue that looked a little too much like the youngest Seed sibling for her liking.

“He’s here to stay sweetheart.” Jacob crouched down, hand enveloping her neck and squeezing. “Say hi.”

“God, fuck you. Fuck both of you.”

“She’s rude Brother. Can I…?” Rook couldn't turn her head enough to see what John was doing. Only saw Jacob, as he was tipping her head towards him. Applying pressure on her throat and crushing her windpipe. A sharp spank over her ass made her jolt forward. Stubbornly she sank her teeth into her lip, keeping herself silent.

John spanked her again. Harder. Chuckling as he did it a third time, closer to her cunt. Making her eyes go wide as she squirmed around. The tingling sensation around her sopping entrance—when did she get wet?—had her eyes clenching shut.

She gathered saliva in her mouth, ignoring Jacob’s stern yet quiet words that she ‘better fucking keep her mouth shut. You even think about spitting on me…’

She didn’t.

Rook spit in his face. Letting her expression remain passive as her saliva trailed down the bridge of his nose, over his left cheek.

“Okay.” He stood, wiping away the wetness. Tipping his head to the side to catch her eyes as she stared defiantly at him. “Let’s try something else.” He shook his head as he walked out a view. Muttering a soft “Again.”

“You’ve dealt with her shit before?” John’s hand was trailing down her spine. Delivering the occasional spank to her ass, which was now turning a bright cherry red.

“I have. She’s strong, not gonna be easy to break. In fact,” Jacob strolled back over, chucking off his jacket and holding up a ball gag. “She’s never given me the answers I’ve wanted. Not once.” He smiled at her, handing the gag off to John. “Starting to piss me the fuck off.”

His brother nodded quickly, slamming down on his knees to push the gag between her lips as Jacob kept her from biting his fingers and drawing blood.

“There. That’ll keep her nice and quiet it if she really doesn’t wanna talk to us.”

Jacob lifted up a vibrator, whistling softly, all relaxed muscles as he made sure she could trace his movements right up until he flicked it on and pushed it against her spread cunt.

It had the desired effect. Made her let out a sharp yelp she couldn’t disguise. John laughed at that. Eyes blown wide with excitement as he circled around to where his brother was positioned from between her knees. “Think she’ll take this well?” Already she could feel John’s cock prodding at her entrance mixed with the buzzing of the insistent vibrations coursing through her veins.

Jacob let out a gruff laugh, lightly pushing the tip of his finger in and giving John a smile when she clamped down on him. “Worth a shot. Might get a tight fit though.”

Rook bit down on her tongue and groaned low in her throat at the pressure of John stretching her out. Absolutely not taking the time to prepare her. Making tears gather at her eyes as she struggled, earning her a reprimanding spank from the baptist. The sudden pain had her walls clenching around him, already so close.

John was merciless. Had her rocking against the bare mattress and was making headboard slam repeatedly against the wall. It was a dizzying amount of pleasure that she tried to avoid when she felt her gut stir in that too familiar feeling that had her calling out Jacob’s name past the ball around her reddened lips. A useless plea to get him to stop.

Though he moved up to undo the gag, the vibrator was still pushing on her clit. Harder now to match John’s thrusts.

“Ready to speak?”

“What do you wanna know?” Panting breaths as she got closer to cumming.

“Never told me where the Wolf’s Den was. Remember that?” He ended his question with a grimace, twisting his wrist and making her hips jump forward as she came with a low keen. Making him laugh and pull away. Standing back to watch John finish inside her.

His eyes were blissfully closed, hands making fingerprint bruises on her hips. When he pulled out it left her cunt fluttering around nothing. Still somehow wanting despite the reprimands she threw at her own mind.

“Gonna talk?” Jacob looked almost bored when he asked.

“Oh come on, now if I did that I’d be breaking my unhelpfulness streak.”

Jacob snorted, undoing his belt and going close to whisper in John’s ear. The smile that he produced was all teeth. It sent a chill through her.

The gag was replaced by a larger one. One that had a suspiciously large hole in the center.

The drool that accumulated on her chin was ignored, and she wasn’t about to admit how uncomfortable it was. She was a soldier, she’d dealt with worse. She’d take this and wouldn’t let him break her, the more times he fucked around with her, the better she got at this shit. At not giving him what he wanted.

Even with those thoughts around her head she could admit that she struggled to keep morale up when Jacob let his cock spring free, letting her get an up close view of his girth. She hadn’t seen John’s dick head on, but Jacob’s looked thicker, harder to take no matter what hole he breached you from.

“Say ahh…”

“Fuck you.” Which sorta lost its meaning when she couldn’t move her mouth very well. Sounding like “Uck ooh.” Her stare stayed dead set and cold to make up for the loss of bite in her words.

Jacob threaded his fingers in her hair, drawing her closer as he shoved himself into her waiting mouth. Grunting appreciatively when her warmth and wetness made him twitch excitedly.

She had almost forgotten about John when a couple minutes went by in silence with Jacob using her as a living sex doll, causing her to make lewd noises as he cursed and showered her with praises.

John let himself be known with using his tongue, licking around her clit. So easily accessible with how they positioned her.

He went to work, making slick sounding noises as he ate her out. Driving her towards a second orgasm. One that felt too much after her first one brought on by him. Not that he cared. Simply pet her flank like a prized pet when she came for him, knowing how her throat was closing around Jacob’s cock head. The third time and she was gagging awfully. Choking on Jacob’s thickness and way too sensitive from John’s tongue.

The fourth time was enough to make Jacob spill down her throat with a resounding groan. Pushing himself to the back of her throat, causing her to spit up on him when he pulled away with a fondness in his eyes.

The gag was removed, tossed to the side as he nodded once to his brother, still lying between her legs, hands spreading her ass.

The eldest sat by her side. Watching her work the muscles in her jaw as she dealt with the aftershock with her orgasms. Noticing how she sighed in relief when all John did was give a kiss to her nub one last time in a sort of goodbye.

“Hope I’ll be seeing more of you Deputy.” John ruffled her hair, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

“Next time I see you, you’ll be lying on the floor beneath me. Bleeding out. So yeah, I’ll be seeing you real soon, don’t worry about that.”

He got dressed quickly, laughing at her taunts when she was the one tied up, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Gonna keep going Jake?” Asked as he lingered in the doorway, eyes kept on her.

He shrugged. Swirling the drool and cum around on her chin before shoving it down her throat. “With the way she’s speaking like that.” He clicked his tongue. Disappointed. “Gotta teach her, do this until she learns. We’ll be here a while.”


	5. [Military Rook pt 4] John/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: As Rook is parachuting down after her fight with John she gets stuck in a tree and left at his mercy

Watching John spiral out of the air, clutching onto the strands of his parachute for dear life; that image made all the hell he put her through worth it. All the bliss bullets and the time he held her underwater, fuck, even the time he carved into her skin and threatened to peel her flesh from her.

That could be forgiven now.

She hopped out of her own plane with little care of where it was about to crash down below. By the looks of it, the bright red bird was making a beeline towards John’s Yes sign that she had yet to get rid of. Killing two birds in one stone. Perfectly fine with her.

Rook angled her parachute a little too quickly. Eager to give chase to the man who had already landed. Collapsing to his knees a second later and pressing a hand to his chest. From way up high and barreling towards the earth she could still see how haggard he looked.

But not at all dead. Not close anyway. That was fine. The comforting weight of her gun was pressing into her thigh. Her rifle was left back at the plane she had abandoned. Also fine. She’s done more with less.

She went a little faster. Pushing the ropes down and spinning in smaller circles like a vulcher descending on his prey.

Her hands began scrambling for her gun, eyes leaving the uneven, tree ridden terrain for half a second. Too concerned with killing John, who she had lost sight of behind the wooded area.

When she looked back up—only half a fucking second—she found herself staring down a very thick, large, intimidating tree. Her body jolted violently as the strings of her parachute took a liking to the leaves. The canopy was quick to follow. It’s billowing chute catching into the tree and shaking her around for good measure.

The grunt she let out was one that made her glad no one was around. Almost like a puppy getting strangled.

Her eyes cast around frantically. Legs kicking as if that was going to do a damn thing. She wasn’t that far from the ground. Maybe four feet. She could take a fall if push came to shove.

Four feet away from the ground and she was utterly stuck. It was humiliating that out of all the shit she’s been through that she has met a greater oppennet. A tree.

“Oh for fucks sake.” She patted her pockets, finding no knives and just a pistol. She wasn’t about to start shooting above her hoping to put a bullet through one of the tiny ropes that held her up.

“Hey!” Her face twisted into desperation. Nick had been up in the air with her, mingling in the dog fight despite the pain he must’ve been in. There was a very slim chance he was around. “Anyone there?”

A rustle in the leaves made her perk up. Closing her eyes and listening intently for some sign that it was human and not just a deer.

As a last ditch effort she chucked her gun into the bushes. Hearing it clatter around uselessly. When no animal ran from the sudden metal intrusion into their hiding spot, she gained some shreds of hope that she wouldn’t be there until night fell. That maybe she’d still have time to catch John.

“I know you’re there! I’m not a Peggie. Please.” She hung her head, shame bubbling up in her gut. “I just need some help.” Mumbled a tad quieter as she kept her head low. Squirming at the feeling of the ropes chafing her thighs through her jeans.

“Help Deputy? I’m honored you can ask. I’m glad to see that pride isn’t one of your sins.” He laughed when he saw her tense. “It’s truly dangerous.”

Rook’s body shook minutely at the recognition of the baptist’s voice.

“No answer? From that last encounter we had I sort of figured you liked running your mouth.” He sighed deeply, hands shoving into the pockets of his jacket as he looked her up and down. “You don’t live up to the expectations my brother set for you.”

The remark had her scoff. Rolling her eyes and tugging at the ropes that bound her together one last time as he closed in on her. “Back off John.”

“You're not the one in control here deputy. All tied up and here for the taking. Oh how fate has a way of working, of rewarding saints and punishing wrathful sinners.” He stood in front of her, smart enough to stand back after watching her swaying legs. Brutally kicking the air as if he stood there.

“One day I won't be tied up John, I’d love to take you hand to hand combat style. Don't even think you'd last one round. Last time wasn't fair, even you can admit that.” She swallowed thickly. Frowning as he pulled out a pocket knife that he flicked open and shone it in the weaning light. “Two on one. You and Jacob standing with me bound. No, I’d prefer even playing ground.”

“I’m not letting you down.” He shot a smile up to her, one hand holding tightly to her upper thigh.

With quick practiced swipes of the small pocket knife she’s never seen him have, a portion of the fabric covering her crotch was gone. Flapping in the wind a tumbling down the mountain without a care in the world.

“I swear to God, if you put your hands on me—“

“What? What are you going to do when you’re like that?” He waved the knife around, gesturing to how she was strung up like a piñata. “You are at my mercy dear. And no one can hear you scream from way up here.”

Her neck craned around. They were high. Surrounded by a forest that went on for miles and was accompanied by a steep hill that would take a good day or two just to reach the if some brave soul decided to make that hike.

Rook’s hands clenched around the strings. Anger bubbling to the surface as she felt him rub her through her panties. Some crappy off white ones that were a size too big. She’s learned her lesson about wearing some lacy shit that got men all right in the pants. Learned that when she went over foreign borders. And to be quite honest, she was sick of self entitled men like John doing this to her.

A squeak came out of her mouth that she couldn’t suppress. And it only served to egg John on. To make him dip in a finger to her cunt.

It wasn’t the first time she was strung up. Remembers distinctly when she was hanged like this and almost killed just for being a soldier and doing what she was meant to. She knew, deep down, that if she opened her mouth and began telling him that story that he just might stop. That he might not only take interest in her past as a soldier by she might see some pity in his eyes. That was some personal shit though and John wasn’t who she was trusting it with.

No. She’s dealt with this before. She could do it again.

Her body trembled as she felt his slick tongue toy with her clit. His hands were braced on her thighs. Holding her tightly as if she was going to make an escape.

She risked a glance down, saw how his head was shifting to angle his tongue further inside her. Tufts of his hair tickled her abdomen, made her squirm and kick out roughly. Catching him in the shoulder and making him stumble back.

“Come at me again John, try me.” She made her gaze sharp, intense. Something she’s perfected over the years. “You can play these little games of yours but don’t expect me to just roll over and take it.”

“Kitty’s got claws. She has wrath!” He laughed, wiping away at his slicked mouth with his forearm. Shaking his head in disbelief. “A wrathful little fighter.” He clicked his tongue, thinking. “No wonder my brother is so fond of you. You’ve got spark, I bet you two have a lot in common.” He took careful steps towards her, keeping his hands up, knife returning in his grasp.

“Not about to get a black eye or broken nose soldier—“

“Corporal.” She cleared her throat at the silence that followed. “Corporal Rook.” She raised her chin a tad higher with the sentence. It was a title of pride, one that she wanted some recognition for. Especially if he decided to haul her away, or just put a bullet in her head. Someone had to know her, they had to remember her for who she was before this shit show if she was about to be killed hanging in mid air from the baptist.

“My apologies corporal.” He had a twinkle of awe in his eyes. No...it couldn’t be respect. But the look was gone before she could really examine it. He had zoned in on her, cutting away the ropes that kept her hanging, stepping back quickly as she dropped to the floor in a billowing cloud of dust.

“I’m hoping you will run back to your petty resistance and you’ll let me go back to my family, unharmed.” He stuck out his hand, looking like he wanted to seal the deal. Mouth smiling, head tipped.

The fuck had she done to make him flip his attitude?

Whatever. She shook it off, her mind was too fragmented to analyze it right now. Just took his hand and shook firmly. Squeezing a little bit too tight when their hands interlocked in a sort of peace treaty shake.

“I don’t suppose this means you won’t stop harassing me?”

He laughed full heartedly as he turned on his heel and made his way down the mountain side. “No, afraid not. You just keep getting more interesting Dep—“ he cleared his throat, stopping in his tracks and glancing over his shoulder to look back at her, “Corporal. Have a safe trip home!”


	6. [Military Rook pt 5] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Rook gets captured by Jacob. Wakes up tied to a bed and gets treated brutally by the solider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to thank Vicjinkim for helping me creating a more solid backstory for military Rook. She also helped with some of the dialogue.
> 
> These are her ideas, and they’ve been wonderful so far, I’m just here to make it come true.

She was still hurting from her encounter from John, struggling to stay low in the Soldier’s region as she bounced from place to place with the constant feeling that he was only one step behind her. Letting her think she was free until he sunk his teeth into her, she was scared the next time he grabbed her he wouldn’t let go.

It made her fearful no matter where she went through the woods. Cradling her hurt ribs and treating her scratched up skin the best she could while hobbling around. Almost positive that she sprained an ankle with how running was almost impossible and jumping from the gaps in the mountain was a death sentence. She learned that the hard way when she fell, knocking her chin on the rocks and earning a bloody nose for her efforts.

Now she stuck to lower ground. Prowling the forest with a permanent scowl and searching for someplace safe to recover before taking her chances with one of the Seeds.

That didn’t last long, the peace the wilderness brought on. The serenity was broken a second later by the piercing sound of a gunshot.

Deep down she knew she was being tracked. Had only guessed because this was Jacob’s region and he would know immediately when she entered his territory. So she couldn’t say she was surprised when the bullet hit her thigh. Tearing through skin and bouncing around off her bones. Pumping her veins with bliss and making the world go fuzzy almost instantly.

Jacob’s voice rang through her ears before she knocked out. Sounding far away, garbled and causing her to put up one last fight. To struggle on the ground as if she could get away. It only served for her getting a kick in the ribs as she tried to crawl.

“Such a fighter. After all this time you’ve still got some pep in ya.”

His foot pushed down on the soft flesh of her stomach when she managed to roll over to look up at him. He pushed until she tried to curl up into herself. Clawing at his ankle in vain. “Don’t worry, this time I think I know how to fix that.”

*****

Jacob’s way of fixing it was typical. At this point, the shock and anger that washed over her shouldn’t have gotten the better of her. But it did. She let it. Let it make her thrash around with heavy limbs, still coming off the bliss and struggling against the chains he had used to tie her to the bed. A bed she didn’t recognize.

The walls were wooden, floor bare. Only decoration being a chair and a bloody overturned table.

A sign hung above her head stating “You Belong Here.”

It created a lump in her throat that was hard to swallow against.

“Coming around pup?”

“Just about.” Rook winced at the sound of her voice. Seeming like she gargled glass. “Don’t suppose you’d give me a few more minutes?” Even if he said no, stalling didn’t hurt. Gave her some time to regain her strength.

He smiled at her. Looking way too sweet with how his lips curled and his eyes wrinkled around the edges.

The bed dipped as he leaned over her. Fist pushing down by her head, other hand pushing a thumb into her mouth. “Go right back to sleep if you really wanna. I can work with that.”

She gave nothing away. Kept her face carefully blank, something she’s gotten good at.

“So Corporal—“ that time she winced, guess little brother couldn’t keep his mouth shut, “You gonna be good for me?” His thumb was yanked back, moving across her jaw.

“Depends what your definition of good is.”

He was closer to her. Breath fanning over her nose and making her snarl. He drew away with a laugh. Tossing off his jacket and shirt, watching how her gaze lingered on the green camo.

With a sigh he collapsed over her waist. Bearing down into her, grinding against her and moving his hands to encircle her neck. “What?” His voice drew her eyes away from his jacket for a second before it flickered back. “Look familiar?”

“Not telling you about my life Jacob. That’s not why you brought me here. Definitely not why I’m naked right now.” She bucked her hips angrily. “Though If you want to talk about it over some coffee—“

“Nice try. Gonna have to pass on that one.” His hands were directed at his belt. Working fast to expose his cock with fluid movements. “We’ve still got a score to settle, still need to know where your band of misfits are at. Something tells me,” He pushed himself inside of her in one go. Smiling when she grimaced from how he stretched her. “That you wouldn’t play nice if I acted civil.”

“No? What gave you that impression?” Trying too hard for levity, to gain some sort of upper hand or at least show him that she couldn’t be broken so easily. God if he only knew what she went through. She gritted her teeth as she felt him rock in and out of her. Going slow, eyes closed as if he was savoring this moment like it’d be the last time he’d put her in this position.

“Once a killer always a killer, soldier. Know that just as well as I do.”

Rook let the conversation drop. Instead went back to old tactics of distractions. Tried her best for an out of body experience. As if that wouldn’t make this day sear into her mind. And hell, maybe that pent up anger would come in handy one day. Fuel her towards slitting his throat and watching him gasp for air.

Jacob picked up the pace. Leaning down to capture her lips. Palming at her breasts and squeezing down a little too hard on her nipple when she sank her teeth into the soft flesh of his lips. When he pulled back he looked absolutely wrecked. Hair mussed and falling in his face, dark rings outlining his eyes, lips swollen on her own accord.

“Didn’t take you for much of a biter.” She didn’t have time to say anything. Not with him going back in for her mouth. The sole purpose being to draw blood from her lips. Moving on to her neck when she began to taste metal in her mouth. It was too much this time around. The smell of the iron, the way he’d let out soft little laughs like she was happy to be putting on a show for him. She lost it. Not one of her proudest moments but she went wild.

Bucking her hips up and thrashing. Making it more difficult to keep his languid pace that he was content with this time around. Her wrists were burning red, ankles not doing much better with how her skin was chafing against the metal of the chains keeping her down.

“You just don’t stop huh killer?” She hated that name, snarled at him, snapping her teeth when he got near. Ignoring the swell of heat in her stomach as one of his hands dropped to rub at her clit with a fast touch. Rough too. Making her whine low in her throat before she convulsed around his cock. Body remembering his touch and reacting just how he wanted. Clenching down around him as thrusted faster. Her cunt grew tighter as he kept going. Fucking her through her orgasm, kept at it until he was on the edge. Still biting at her neck. Kneading her breasts with callused hands that rose goosebumps on her skin.

The praise that he delivered after he spilled into her made her sick. Had her gather a mixture of blood and saliva into her mouth and direct it at him. Didn’t want to admit how her anger only grew when he didn’t say a damn word. Just stood and wiped his face clean. Collapsing at the edge of the bed with a fond smile on his face. Rubbing her ankle. Tearing the skin further than it was already making her ankles turn into a bloody mess.

 

“Gonna talk, or do ya need a couple of minutes?”

“Not about to snitch Jacob.” She sighed. Staring up at the wooden ceiling. “Doesn’t this get old? I mean, we’re going around in circles now.” The look that went across his face was out right fatigue. Clear as day. Knowing she was right, that at this rate his own men would find it themselves.

“Maybe pain works better on you. Think if I sent you to John and he’d cut ya up that you’d speak? How’s your tolerance?”

“I’m an old pro.” She sang out, smiling despite not at all having the upper hand. “I know how to keep my mouth shut.” She curled her hands into fists, feeling his interest sharpen.

“Yeah? How’s that?” He leaned back on the frame at the foot of the bed. Fingers trailing up and down the arch of her foot. Seeing her uncomfortable gave him somewhat of an advantage. A subtle reminder that he was in charge.

“You brought up my military career once, which I didn’t go into detail about because I was more focused on pissing you off. As soon as I turned 18 I joined the marines, 1st Marine Division, hoorah.” Her eyes flicked down from where it had focused on a knot in the wood, tracing patterns, trying to gauge his interest. Seeing if he was about to interrupt. All she got was a blank stare, a cock of his eyebrow when their eyes met.

 

Message clear: continue. She got his go ahead.

Rook cleared her throat, pointedly moving her gaze, she hasn’t told this story in years. “You know when I turned 18? February of 2001.”

“The War on Terror.” Not a question, and the first time he acknowledged he was paying attention as closely as he was.

“That’s the one.” Rook whispered, hadn’t heard anyone talk about the event lest she was the one to bring it up. Sounded strange having someone so detached from the event say it out loud. She distantly hoped Jacob felt the same when he heard people talking about The Gulf War, had hoped for it on more than one occasion.

“One day, a whole squad of us are on the road before we’re targeted by an ambush. Never seen so many body parts scattered about. Fortunately, my team’s truck was still running—I had been pinned under one of the other trucks though—forced them to leave before praying I would get a shot to the head.” Jacob was twirling a key around his finger when she finally found it in her to look at him again. He moved forward when there was a lull in her story. A simple dying of words that he was afraid wasn’t going to come back. With far more gentle hands than he had ever cared using with her, he uncuffed her ankles. Rubbing the skin with careful strokes meant to soothe her this time around.

The way he had tossed the chains away with finality, and leaned towards her from where he sat at her feet spoke volumes. He tossed her a bone, showed some dregs of humanity, he wanted her to keep going. “They tortured me for three weeks before I was rescued. Started off with just your simple beatings, got whipped pretty bad. Then there was the waterboarding, felt like sitting at the edge of death.”

“After I gave some serious lip while they were trying to indoctrinate me they hung me by my arms, electrocuted me with cattle prods and car batteries—burning me with a blowtorch when they would get bored. How I got that scar, right on my side.” His eyes dipped low at the mention of the scar across the side of her ribs. His lips twisted, touching his face, running it over his ruined cheek. As if her mention of being burnt had reared up his own memory of charred flesh.

“This one day they even took a dull knife and cut off part of my ring finger. That’s why I always had gloves on, you can check for yourself.”

His eyes closed for a second, taking in this information before standing, coming to crouch down on the floor and unlock her right hand when he saw her nod towards it. Like she wanted him to see. Desperate for someone else to know the hell she went through. He understood that gnawing feeling of needing to tell someone.

Sure enough the tip of her finger was missing. A messy stump that was sliced at an angle. Skin haphazardly sewn back together. “Had a prosthetic for that, didn’t wear gloves today, ergo no prosthetic. I was just passing through the mountains, didn’t expect to run into anyone.”

He sat back on his heels. Holding her jaw and forcing their eyes to lock. “Keep going. Finish.”

She simply nodded. Was too drained to argue “I wept like a newborn some days and begged for my life, other days I would spit in their faces and laugh. I tried to bite my own tongue off so I could just have it all end—but they just shoved a cloth in my mouth after that.”

“It was like that until the rescue, found me all strung up naked by my ankles with the camera those bastards had still running, a large bucket below me to catch the blood—like a lamb for slaughter. If they came just an hour later…”

The sentence hung in the air of the cabin. With Rook’s racing heartbeat and Jacob’s steady breaths. He moved slow, either unsure or scared of her freaking out after relieving that moment. Her other wrist was brought away from the chains. Enabling her free and in control.

Jacob helped her to her feet. Clasping her hand and yanking her up until their chests touched. He jerked his head towards her clothes on the ground, moving away to grab his own. “Get outta here Corporal.”


	7. [Military Rook pt 6] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Pratt and Rook successfully escape Jacob’s compound. Though Jacob is right on her heels and refuses to let her get very far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to Vicjinkim who helped me out with this part of the series

The song hadn’t seeped into her mind yet. Rook’s seen what it can do, and she isn’t sure who to thank, whatever divine being was out there keeping her under their shroud of protection from Jacob, she’s forever in debt. Owing her life to whatever force made it possible that Jacob somehow didn't have his skills honed enough to keep her under his thumb as he wanted.

This notion kept her calm when the song began blaring out of the too large speakers that were scattered around the perimeter, making her jaw ache as she clenched her teeth from annoyance. Gaze tilting around where she stood on a balcony with Staci. He was still rambling like a madman despite her worried concern flicking around the courtyard. Going on and on about...trials.

One

Two

Three

Whatever the fuck that meant. She turned on her heel, focusing back on Staci to see him physically shaking from fear.

“He knows. He knows, he wasn’t supposed to I planned this for months, and now he’ll kill us both or worse there’s always something worse when it involves Jacob.” She gripped him by the shoulders. Shaking roughly to untangle his mind. Some attempt at pulling him out of whatever void he dropped himself into.

“We gotta leave.” Her eyes scanned below, “you mentioned the trucks?” She didn’t let him answer, was sure he couldn’t with how he was staring at her slack-jawed. “That’s how you’re getting outta here Pratt.”

“And you.” He sounded so tiny. Like that rant sapped all the energy he had. He was deflating in her grasp. Knees knocking together as she leaned over the wooden railing. Gazing at a nice homey spot that’d be perfect for someone hitching a ride.

“I’ll get there too, soon.” With his look of confusion, she clarified slowly, “the Wolf’s Den. Take this radio," She tangled her hands over his, forcing his grip to grow strong. "Ask for Eli the first chance you get. Whenever this truck stops enough for you to jump. Make a run into the woods and wait for the Whitetails to get you. You’ll be safe Staci.”

He was already trying to break from her grasp. Scrambling to move away. Clawing at her with dirty fingernails. Whispered pleas rising from his throat as she dragged him close to the balcony’s edge. Tipping him over in one easy shove.

He landed with a dull thud on his side. Radio clutched tight. His only lifeline.

The journey away from Jacob’s compound under the cover of the night was one filled with guilt. Her last image of her friend, who already endured hell, being his tear-filled eyes that bulged wide at her before the truck sped away.

*****

He was following her. She knew that, and she was sure he was making himself known on purpose. Jacob was deliberate, methodical. He was trying to scare her.

To be fair, it was working. Her heart was racing. Blood rushing to her ears. Not on her A-game after the conditions he put her through.

She wasn’t even sure if she could fight. Not after spending so much time in his cages, starved and so so thirsty. Rook’s been in worse situations, they both knew that now. And that thought made her cringe.

It was a point of weakness, her past, he’d find that out soon enough. For now though, she was drawing him further away from the Wolf’s Den. Eyes constantly moving. Scanning for somewhere to spend the night. Maybe a place to wait him out.

When she did find a tiny little cabin at the edge of the forest, she wasted no time in running inside. Kneeling on the floor, obscured by shadows as the moon rose higher in the sky, eyes locked firmly on the door. She could play Jacob’s game, could wait until morning if she had to.

Sweat was running down her temple, trickling down her neck. Slicking up her grip, making her readjust the hold she had on a stray cast iron frying pan she had snagged with a quick once-over around the room.

A knock on the door had her jolting. Leaning forward, eyes squinting to make out the shape outside the windows. He was fucking with her. Tugging her this way and that until her mind succumbed to her paranoia.

With how high strung she was it might just work.

“Come on Jacob!” Rook got to her feet. Swinging her raised arm around wildly as if she wielded a gun. “Come fight me like a real man. Like a soldier.”

That must’ve done it. Her words caused him to launch forward at her, making the door splinter as he charged through. Tossing his weight at her. Grabbing her around the waist, not before she was able to get a hit on him. Knocking him over the head with the heavy pan.

He didn’t bring her to the ground like she was hoping for, body already tensing to brace for impact. But no, he was as much of a soldier as she was, probably felt her muscles pull taut. Instead he slammed her into the wall. Scrambling to grab at her improvised weapon and smash the pan into the side of her skull, making her see stars.

“Don’t fight me on this dep.”

“Fuck off.” Rook spat, teeth bared at him. Her legs kicked to wrap one around his waist, the other wedged between his knees. Grinding down a little too much to be considered pleasurable. His hold on her loosened as he stood his ground. Grinding his teeth together and glaring at her.

Jacob moved to flip her around, tugging them away from the wall to wrap a solid arm around her stomach. Pushing into her gut. Making her double over the rigid bar his arm acted as. His hand wrapped across the back of her neck. Shifting down to feel her rapid fluttering heart.

When he yanked her up into a fully standing position, she used the momentum to swing her head back. The satisfying crack his nose made was music to her ears. Caused her to let out a breathy laugh as he stumbled back a few steps.

With the distance between them and now somewhat of an upper hand, she went for him. Charged him and grabbed the collar of his jacket. Swiping his legs from beneath him to make him trip. Smashing into a wooden table that screeched along the floor until it tipped over. Sending Jacob right to the ground with it.

If she was just a bystander in this, she might just laugh at the way he floundered. Arms flailing as he toppled over. Landing on his back with a hard thump and a guttural 'oof' falling from his lips.

Rook threw herself at him. Not caring to be gentle. Too hyped up on adrenaline to care that her hip banged into the overturned table, or that her knees slammed into the wooden floor as she tossed herself on top of him. The payoff was great though. Her pain made his reaction worth it. His eyes widened in surprise as he tensed, bracing himself for her weight. Grunting as she landed a little higher on his hips than she intended.

His hands scrambled to grab her. Wrapped his arms around her torso. Pulling her to his chest to keep her still. Fighting against how she kicked and squirmed. “Fucking hell pup. If you wanted to be on top for once—“

“Shut up!” Rook snapped, drawing back from him as much as he would let her and brought her hands to cross over his throat. Not yet squeezing, smart enough to know that he had the strength to shove her off.

Her mind clouded over. Anger and lust for this asshole making her not see straight. She wasn’t even listening to what he was saying. Just hearing the faint tone of his voice that she knew was full of threats and menace. She’s heard it before. Already knew what was coming next.

Rook smiled at him.

“Something funny?”

So very funny, the idea that flitted through her head. There one moment and gone in a single heartbeat. But coming across so clear that she couldn’t help but feel giddy.

Jacob’s hand tightening on her waist to stop her from moving from where she was seated on his hips when he felt her muscles shift. That’s when she moved, when his face turned into one of confusion. Practically seeing the cogs rumbling to life behind her eyes.

She was the one to make a move this time around. To fill the gap between them and push their lips together.

It was messy. Including more teeth than a kiss ever needed.

“Really pup? Couldn’t wait this time?”

“Jacob.” Coming out more of a whine than a stern command.

He merely smiled at her. Pulling her back down so their chests bumped. Nosing at her cheek way too affectionately. “You know if you wanted my attention you really didn’t have to involve Peaches.”

“Yeah?” She reached down, arm snaking around in the small space to circle over his neck and pulling him to lean up towards her. “I guess I wasn’t aware there was an open invitation to just knock on your door.”

Jacob laughed. Craning his neck up slightly and humming his approval at the sight he got down her shirt. His hands moved to unbutton her flannel slowly. Being too careful this time around. “All those other times didn’t get the message across?” Her shirt was shoved down her arms. Ripping across one of the seams as he tore it off, throwing it to the ground beside them. “Maybe I lost my touch when it comes to smooth-talking huh?” Another kiss, rough like before. His bites moving down her neck. Coloring her skin a harsh shade of purple. “More John’s thing anyway.”

She rolled her eyes the best she could, unable to focus with how he was treating her, already moving to take off her bra. Undoing the clasps as he was still sucking on her neck. Adding one last nip as the cloth was removed.

Jacob groaned at the sight. Head leaning forward to lean on her collarbone. Grabbing a handful of her breast. Kneading it between his palm. Working the flesh in his grip roughly. Moving on to twist one of her nipples. Resulting in a chastising “careful,” falling from her lips. He laughed, bracing his hands on her shoulders, keeping her at the right distance to be able to pop one of her nipples into his mouth as his hand reached around her to cup her ass.

“Damn.” He wolf whistled. Bringing a heavy hand down on her rear. Bucking his hips up when she jerked on top of him. He growled deep in his throat. Head falling back on the hardened wood. “Mind taking those off for me pup?”

“Oh, we’re asking now?”

“I’m in a mood. Don’t push it.” The deadly glare in his eyes told her a thousand things, let her know that he was serious. He might be more yielding this time, might allow her on top of him for now, would be generous enough not to force her hand every step of the way, but he was still Jacob. Judging by the erection jutting into her thigh, he was needing enough to shove her down and tear her clothes off her. Playing along would be easier. Cause a lot less pain.

“Gonna have to let me go for that to happen.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Jacob muttered, tangling his hand in her hair to keep her somewhat still. Hand moving across her chest and not bothering to help her. Opting to watch her wrestle off her jeans. Enjoying how she squirmed against him, bucking her hips and snarling at how her boots got in the way.

“Easy there.”

Her eyes flicked up to him. Stilling her movements as the hand in her hair loosened to tug her jeans the rest of the way down. Getting them properly out of the way.

“Gonna be good for me?”

“Of course not.” It wasn’t much of a joke. And he knew that. Tipping his lips down and scoffing. Shoving her panties to the side with practiced hands to brush over her cunt. Tangling his fingers in her mound. Toying with her. Not yet touching where she wanted, where she was throbbing for some kind of pressure.

“Jacob.”

“Are you gonna be good pup?”

“Oh for fuck's sake.” Rook snarled, burying her head in his grey shirt. Hips rising in the air as she pressed into him.

His hand came down on her ass again, smiling wide as she jumped from the sudden rush of pain and looked up at him. “Language. Be good.”

The words he spoke struck a chord with her. Made her momentarily wonder how many past lovers he had that keeled at his words. How many men and women had taken one look at him up close, as large and scarred as he is, and had submitted to his every whim. She wondered how many people had heard his words and taken in his sharp commands and just played the role as his little dog. After all their encounters how the hell could he think she would be the same as all those others who treated his words like law?

She bared sharp teeth at him, tipping her head the right way to capture the soft flesh of his neck between her canines. Nibbling against his skin as his hands continued to explore. Seemingly content with the fact that she wouldn't roll over for him. She wouldn't relinquish control that easily. Not after what happened in her past.

Her hips rolled down into his cupped palm. Sighing, puffing warm air onto his skin as his thumb flicked out to rub at her clit. He shoved her panties to the side, not caring to push them down her hips.

“You’ve gone all docile on me dep.” Jacob breathed in her ear. Pushing a kiss to her temple, wrapping her up in his arms as he sat up, allowing her to straddle his lap. “Now that those claws are gone for the moment,” He leaned back on his elbows, giving her a half-lidded stare, “Mind getting me ready?”

She snorted. Heavy retorts on her tongue. Seconds away from slipping out and in the open, ruining this strange frame of mind they had fallen into.

Rook fumbled with his jeans. Snapping his button and yanking his zipper down a little too brutally, a subtle reminder of what she could do if provoked.

Jacob didn’t seem to mind. Just sat back and let her work. Sounding his approval as she began stroking him. Going rough, no need for anything else. Not when he's shown her on more than one occasion what he was capable of. That he could fuck her senseless and still go another round.

“C’mon pup, some of us got places to be.”

Rook frowned, but still listened to him. Lifting herself up and ignoring how his fingernails were biting into her hips.

“Right sorry. People to kill, crazed speeches with wolf slideshows to present.” She clenched her muscles around his cock when she left just the tip in. Fierce hands framing his face.

The hands on her hips didn’t waste any time pulling her down. A sharp warning not to tease him.

Jacob bundled her up in his arms. Angling his hips to press into her perfectly when she mewled. Shifting as if she could get away. “There, soldier. Right there.” Jacob mumbled, words getting lost in her chaotic mess of hair. He jerked his hips up. Moving fast. Easing in and out of her at a pace that rendered her breathless. Making her pant out whines, painting her cheeks pink when she heard the sounds she was giving him. Her face turned inward, pressing into his neck as she bounced up and down in his lap.

That's when she realized that she may be on top but Jacob was the one who was in control. He was making her move for him, capturing her lips whenever he wanted. Taking from her in a less violent way than he ever has before. Not to say it wasn’t rough. Because it was, just being near Jacob warranted a harshness that was inescapable.

He ramped up the pace, shoving her closer to the edge with fumbling hands that struggled to find space between them, searching for her clit. Circling his fingers around her reddened nub upon her loud whine. Swiping over the sensitive area and making her cry out, scrambling to grab at his shoulders.

 

“Fucking asshole.” He laughed, tugging their sweaty bodies closer. “Son of a--” She arched her spine, tossing her head back as she moaned. Chest pushing just close enough for Jacob to latch onto a nipple.

That was it, the push she needed to send her over. She clenched around him. Riding him with her last shreds of energy as she came.

“There ya go, soldier. So damn strong for me, you know that?” The compliment went to her head. Made her whimper for a whole new reason.

The last few seconds were spent in silence, save for their shortened breaths and Jacob's grunts. Snarling as he spilled into her. Tugging her back with him as he laid down, entirely on his back. Keeping her close as if he was scared a single drop of his cum would spill out.

She kept her head on his chest. Trying to reign in her emotions as she listened to his heartbeat slow down.

“Got a question for ya pup.” He cleared his throat, hand resting on top of her head. “How the fuck did you and Peaches get out?”

“Sorry to disappoint, but you suck at that whole classical conditioning thing.” She laughed when she felt him stiffen. Hand moving away from her head to reach into his pocket, a movement that was lost on her.

“So the music doesn’t work.” She almost felt giddy at such an admission from the man lying underneath her. “Stay still.” His fingers dug into her neck, keeping her locked down despite how she tried to raise her eyes to meet his.

The gentle prick of a needle breached her skin. Causing the world to dip out into a fuzzy blur that made her whole body relax on him.

“Fu-fucking asshole.”

His laugh was the last thing he granted her to hear before she passed out in the enemy’s arms.


	8. [Military Rook pt 7] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
> “I was a soldier too Jacob, and I can’t seem to understand your philosophy. The weak must be culled.” She leaned forward as much as she could with the bindings around her wrists and ankles. “I protected people. Those you deem weak, I knew it was my job to keep them safe. It’s why we do what we do. To make sure everyone is cozy in their idyllic lifestyles and doesn’t have to face the same horrors we do. So where the hell did you get your ideas?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another huge thank you to Vikjinkim, who is still just as invested in this as I am it seems. Thank you for all the ideas!

He looked as tired as she felt when he strolled in, clipboard in hand with chicken scratch scrawled on the lined paper, pen comically shoved behind an ear, music box strangely absent she realized when she gave him a quick once over. No bulges at least.

If he was truly tired and off his game, then she might be getting out of here sooner than she thought.

“Morning dep.”

“Is it?” She cocked her head to the side. Body trying to remain lax to keep the zip ties binding her from rubbing her skin raw. “Couldn’t tell with the lack of windows and getting fed at inconsistent times.” He shot her a blank stare as he collapsed into the chair that was across from her. “Is that another tactic of yours Jacob? Makes people uneasy, having no schedule.”

He was nodding along to her words. Though whether it was a confirmation or him showing he was listening, she wasn’t sure.

“Speaking from experience there pup?”

In an instant, her shoulders had dropped, and her lips were set in a firm scowl. “I think you know enough about me. What about you?”

Jacob snorted, reclining back in the wooden chair, shoving his feet out and knocking them against her own, rougher than what was friendly. He rolled his neck again, stretching out muscles that seemed too tight. His head stayed tipped, revealing the end of burnt skin on his adam's apple and the sparse hair that was growing unruly. “What about me? Already told you ‘bout my war days.” He jolted forward in a sporadic action, tossing his clipboard to the floor and leaning his forearms on his thighs. Finally meeting her eyes. “And If you wanna hear about my childhood--” He waved his hand dismissively, “I recommend John for that one. His whole atonement act is all about that.”

Rook sucked in a breath. Eyes straying from his to trace moss that was stringing down from a crack in the ceiling. He was talking, looking all in the world like he’d rather be anywhere but in the dingy room he placed her in devoid of everything except for the two chairs they were sitting in.

“I like hearing about when you were a soldier.”

“I’m gonna stop ya right there.” He reached up to take the pen from behind his hair, immediately fluffing the orange cut to arrange it haphazardly. “Flirting’s not gonna work.”

“I’m not flirting. I’m just curious.” Her lips tipped up slightly. “What, do girls always throw themselves at you?”

He laughed, it wasn’t a chuckle, nothing small or reserved. It was full and booming with his eyes crinkling at the edges. Like she had struck some memory that was actually pleasant for him. “Oh yeah. Men, woman. All filthy things at their lowest and wanting a shower or a few extra scraps.”

“Do you take em up on their offer?”

“Sometimes.”

If he noticed how she winced, he had the decency not to say anything. Just kept twirling his pen around his fingers. As if he was waiting for her to continue. “Can I at least talk semantics with you?” Rook asked. Gauging his reaction and not at all liking how he scoffed.

Jacob sat back again, arms crossed over his chest in a defensive pose. She kept going, “I’ve been thinking--”

“Never any good.” He mumbled under his breath, eyes appearing hooded.

“I was a soldier too Jacob, and I can’t seem to understand your philosophy. The weak must be culled.” She leaned forward as much as she could with the bindings around her wrists and ankles. “I protected people. Those you deem weak, I knew it was my job to keep them safe. It’s why we do what we do. To make sure everyone is cozy in their idyllic lifestyles and doesn’t have to face the same horrors we do. So where the hell did you get your ideas?”

It was his turn to wince, partially turning in his chair and huffing out a breath. His leg came up to rest on his thigh, he kept himself distracted by rubbing at the dirt that clung to his boots.

“You’re still proud of this country.” His eyes flicked to hers for a brief second, holding her gaze and seeing the passion there. Not anger...passion. “Your brother might hate the government and ‘The Man,’ the higher-ups who destroyed the world...but you love it. You carry the honor that soldiers do just by nature.”

“You sound so sure, pup.” He tangled his fingers around his dog tags, an unconscious act he probably did when he let his guard down and wasn’t conditioning people.

“Well, you still wear those.” She nodded at his tags, seeing his fist clench around them. Aware that dropping it once she mentioned what hung around his neck would seem submissive. “You still have your jacket, your boots. Not full fatigues, but enough. And you don’t have any medals on your jacket, but I bet they’re hanging up somewhere.”

“All just assumptions Deputy.”

“Educated assumptions.”

“No.” He chuckled lightly, wagging his finger at her. “You’re gonna learn that I’m right dep. That I know what I’m talking about. The weak must be culled. The lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many.”

She clicked her tongue. Impatience running deep in her bones so hard it made her heart throb. “Wanna hear a story? One that I think you’ll relate to, maybe you’ll even learn something.”

He did lean forward, eyebrows hiking upward at the petty jab she sent his way. For now, he was listening.

“Have you ever heard of the Donner party?” Her shoulders reared back in a show of confidence, almost excited when he shook his head no. “The Oregon Trail?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? The hell does that mean?”

“Do you wanna tell your story or do you wanna hear about how some of us didn’t have a great education when they were kids? How some people were too busy surviving.” His voice came out harsh and cold. An unquestioning tone that she wasn’t about to joke around with. Even if the latter of his options sounded more interesting to her.

“It was—“ she sighed, tongue poking out to swipe at chapped lips in thought. “The Oregon trail...time period I suppose, was when groups of people, families,” she enunciated as if that would strike a chord with him and gain her some empathy. “They traveled east to west in large caravans with bison hauling them along. Most didn’t make it.”

He nodded, foot tapping rhythmically against the floor. “So they were weak dep, I don’t need to hear this.”

“I’m not done!” It was a rare show of anger from her. But she was past the point of caring. He’s seen every inch of her, knew her mind better than anyone. “So,” she swallowed roughly, ignoring the strange look he gave her, “the path was mostly laid out by fur traders. And this one family, the Donner family, they went too.”

“They didn’t make it huh?”

“Course not, if they did it wouldn’t have been written in the history books. People like reading of a good tragedy.” She eyed him wearily. “Provided they weren’t involved.” She corrected.

Jacob nodded. A dark look passing over his face before focusing back on her. “Any kids?”

“Plenty.”

“They died?”

“Not all. Why? Are you gonna call those innocent kids weak.”

He shook his head. Clasping his hands together between his knees. Waving his hand impatiently a second later to tell her to get to it.

“They got fucked over, no fault of their own. Had to abandon some of their wagons. People had to walk. Provisions ran low, some people died of starvation, others consumption. They lost their oxen and found themselves in a desert.” She smiled sarcastically. “You know what that’s like right Jacob?”

All she received was a light grunt and a shrug. She could tell he was interested though. Confused too as to why she brought this up in the first place.

“They went crazy. You said that it takes ten days for people to snap back into archaic times yeah? As if that part of them was waiting to break free. It was no different with them. They started playing judge jury and executioner. A man got stabbed, the killer was banished from the group.” Rooks voice had lowered, forcing Jacob to lean in further than before. “All because a man treated the oxen poorly...that’s why he got stabbed.” Rook paused,breathing in deep. “Then It began to snow.”

“That’s rough,” Jacob mumbled. Though his eyes told the story of someone who knew life was tough. He didn’t much care for what happened to the Donner family. There were so many other tragic cases. That’s just life.

“They were starving, sure, some people made a trek to a nearby village, there were rescue missions. But there was no food. So they ate eachother another.”

“This some kind of joke deputy? Have you really gotten this bored without me around?”

“No,” The mournful look she sent his way a second later made him scowl. He didn’t take kindly to pity. “No Jacob.” Rook continued, “I had a point to this.”

 

“And that was?”

 

“Are you gonna rip my head off if I ask the question I’ve been thinking about for months now?”

“Depends.” He chewed on a loose flap of skin around his thumb, eyes still lacking warmth.

“Was Miller weak?” She asked, head knocking down to hide her face.

She flinched at the sound of his chair squeaking violently against the cement flooring, and just like that he was on her. Grabbing her chin in a grip that was already leaving bruising, and crashing down on her lap. Making her wheeze at the weight that was pressed down on her.

“Miller was a good man. He was my sacrifice, his life for mine.”

“Okay,” Rook mumbled, struggling to speak with his fingers digging into her skin and keeping her jaw locked. “He was a good man. But was he weak? In your mind—“

“What do you think dep?” Jacob gritted out. Fully sitting on her thighs and tugging their faces closer.

“I think, out of the two of you, that he was stronger than you.” She paused, eyes wavering on his as if anticipating him to hurt her for her words. She had to remind herself that he wasn’t John, his temper didn’t flare. “Miller was a strong, strong man. I don’t think you stabbed him in the back one night, slaughtering him in his sleep. No,” she laughed, moving her jaw around when he let go to thread through her hair. “I think Miller came up with the idea. He chose his life for yours, and that takes courage that most will never know. So yeah, you’re whole spiel that you like to give, that you’re known for? That’s a load of bull, and you’re own story proves it.”

“You think you’re so smart, Deputy.” His voice lowered between them. Dropping to a distant whisper. “That you’re the first person to figure me out? God, it’s cute to watch your eyes light up and to see cogs spinning in your mind.” For emphasis, he squeezed her skull. “We done here? Done with your fucking semantics?” He spat the last words. Face twisting up as he pushed himself off her, shoving her chair back roughly and making her slam to the floor.

She slammed onto the cement with a cough. Breath living her lungs on impact in an instant.

“You know who else is weak-willed?”

Jacob stood back. Taking ragged sounding breaths from where he was leaning against the wall.

“That murderer of yours. The Cook is what I’ve learned to call him that.”

Jacob grunted in response. Chewing on his lip and taking careful steps forward.

“He burns people alive. He scars children. Weak. A fucking weak man.” Rook sneered. Neck craning in an effort to find where Jacob was now standing in front of her, foot raised on the edge of the wooden chair. Pushing down slightly, as if teasing the idea of letting her back up. “I know you’re not gonna listen to a word I say, that when you leave this room, you won’t change a damn thing about how you run things.”

“Aw. You know me so well.” He drew his words out, sarcasm dripping.

“But,” Rook kept going as if he hadn’t said a word. “We were both soldiers, meant to protect people. To save lives. And I think, maybe in a different time we could’ve worked together.”

Jacob huffed a laugh. Shaking his head and staring down at her with vehemence.

“We both came back with demons. With monsters no one understood. And if we met, I think there could’ve been something. We could help people just as we did when we carried guns in the midst of war. We could’ve leaned on each other instead of tear each other down the way we are.”

“Yeah well,” finally Jacob pressed down on the wood of the chair, making her jolt up from the floor and wobble upright. “That didn’t happen, Deputy. None of that shit happened. And you’re right, I’m don’t plan on listening to what you’re telling me. Because you still don’t get it.”

“I understand war. Probably better than you do.”

Jacob met her large eyes with a swift punch to her stomach. A clenched fist right to her gut that made her squirm and double over as much as she could tied up.

“You don’t know what I went through!” He snarled low in his throat. Hand tangling in her hair as he bent down to her level. “Our experiences were very fucking different. Get off your high horse pup.” He spat the last word, a nicknames turned sour in an instant. “Someone outta knock you down a few pegs.” He shoved her back again. Let her slam back down to the floor.

His boot was crushing down on her windpipe. He was smiling through his beard. Looking proud. “You ever think that’s what those men were trying to teach you? That they tied you up and beat you for your own good.”

“Wha—“ She coughed. Struggling to suck in air. “Do you feel that way with your father? That he beat you and your brothers bloody to teach you—“ another sharp press of his boot and a swift kick to her temple was given before she could finish her sentence.

“I’m only gonna ask you one more time to stop talking about things that you don’t know anything about. You’re gonna stay here dep,” Jacob backed off, “just like that for as long as I see fit, and you’re gonna really think about what you’ve done wrong in your life to be here. You better start thinking about how weak you really are. If you deserve to be taught the true meaning of strength by me.”


	9. [Angel Rook pt 1] PolySeed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
> "Bliss is what got me into this mess. It made me a goddamn monster."
> 
> "Not a monster. An angel. Our angel." There was a ringing tone in his voice that painted a perfect picture of him smiling wide as he said it. Ever confident in God's plans.

Her feet were pounding out on the floor, creating an uneven rhythm as she tripped and stumbled her way through the forest. Parting grass in her wake, crushing bliss flowers around her as she went.

That didn't matter, the drug flowing through her system was the least of her worries. Taking a glance behind her at the small army tracking her down was evidence of that. A helpful reminder that she was in danger, that if there was any time to leave Hope County, it would be now.

Only days after being exposed to Faith's new batch of bliss resulted in unimaginable terror. And pain. Christ, how could she forget the resulting pain that came hours within inhaling the sickly cloying scent? It still made her gag with the thought of it.

She wished that was the worst of it, that the men hunting her down no matter which region she ran off to and the awful bliss that she was sure got shoved to the side to never be used again was all that was wrong with her current situation. John chasing her down through the skies as she dodged between trees in the Valley as she crossed borders couldn’t even match up to reality. A reality she was begging some merciful god out there to get rid of.

Rook remembers with clarity how she pleaded with Joseph to put a bullet between her eyes when Faith brought her to him with concern etched on her face.

Joseph said it was a blessing. He probably still would; even though a moment later she tightened her grip on his shoulders and crashed her head into his.

Her heart wasn't going nearly as fast as she has assumed it would be given the circumstances. That's the one thing she could take note of as she dove into a small ravine. Stuttering her breaths behind a cupped palm. The noise sounding amplified in the tiny space.

"Deputy Rook?" Her hands clamped down on the radio clipped to her side. Anger drawing her brow down.

"What?" Coming out as a tiny whisper as she listened intently to the sound of pounding footsteps overhead.

"Are you safe?"

She barked out a laugh. Wincing a moment later upon hearing the telltale sound of a helicopter’s blades slow to a halt. "You sent your men after me, they won't stop chasing me. I've been on the run for days. I'm so fucking far from being safe right now."

"They won't hurt you." Her eyes rolled on their accord. "They're using bliss bullets. I have never wanted you dead child."

"Bliss bullets." She enunciated the words slowly. Head tipped up to see a sliver of light, shadows hanging down as people scanned the area. "Bliss is what got me into this mess. It made me a goddamn monster."

"Not a monster. An angel. Our angel." There was a ringing tone in his voice that painted a perfect picture of him smiling wide as he said it. Ever confident in God's plans. In fate that she couldn't run from. "You've been granted a sacred gift from the heavens. Don't squander this Rook."

He switched quick. From saccharine sweet to an air of irritation. "Come home to me. Or if you feel the need to take sanctuary with another member of my family I urge you to do so."

Her hands tightened around the radio. Tears gathering at the corners of her eyes in spite of herself. She was being hunted by the heralds themselves it seemed, crying wasn't an option. Especially when she was stuck in a hole, surrounded on all sides.

"Rook?"

She let the radio fall from her grasp. Letting it knock around on a collection of boulders beside her as she prepared to grapple herself up and out.

"Please answer me, child. I worry about you."

Like hell he did.

"You're scared." Absolutely terrified. Rooted to the spot as she rose to stand. Bruised knuckles shining in the light as she gripped the edge of the rock.

"I can help you. As can my brothers and sister. We can teach you to adapt, no one should be alone during one of God's tests. This is a daunting task that would frighten even the strongest of people. " So that's what he thought this was? That Faith polluting the air around her bunker with a new form of bliss that made Rook sprout wings was a test from God. Or maybe some cruel joke. That after all she's done karma finally came around. Put her in a comatose state for days. Made her feel mind-splitting pain up until feather and bones formed on her back. Even now her spine was aching with the added presence. Pulsing and throbbing along her body, as if egging her own to try and move the large appendages not at all meant for humans.

"Rook. I'm begging you."

"Yeah." She whispered softly, peering over the edge, waiting for a window to run. "I hear ya asshole."

At the last second, she launched herself out. No way would she be sneaking through hoards of men with a large white set of wings on her back, glistening off the sun from where she cut slits in the back of her shirt as if she was ready to use them.

She didn't make it two steps before a weight was pressing down into her. Between her shoulder blades, her wings. A tan boot keeping her down, shooting her a Cheshire cat smile when she craned her neck around to see him.

"Hey there pup. Going somewhere?"

Another fresh round of tears was all she had to answer to Jacob. Who was kneeling into the dirt beside her. Keeping a hand down on her spine when she shifted. "Easy there girl." Jacob murmured in her ear. Beard scratching at her neck.

"Holy shit. You found her." There was a rush of footsteps before John was getting down on the ground next to his brother. Hand reaching out more tentatively than he had ever done when touching her.

She recoiled at the feeling of the pads of his fingers brushing along her cheek. "So fucking amazing." A muttered reference to her wings as he pulled back to gaze at them. "We should get her back before she runs off again." John stood, hands on his hips. Head swiveling to take in the scenery, breathing in deep as Jacob helped her to her feet. Hand on her shoulder, rubbing circles into her skin.

"Yeah." Jacob shook her slightly, jolting her to walk forward. "We've been chasing you for days pup. Gave us a run for our money."

"Not anymore though," John fell into step beside her. Thrumming with joy. "We won’t be needing to chase you down after tonight. You’re ours." An echoing of Joseph's words that made her shudder.


	10. [Angel Rook pt 2] PolySeed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
> Her body was shaking violently, skin turning pale from the sudden pain rushing through her bones.
> 
> She tipped her head back to follow Joseph as he stood, pacing back and forth and muttering things to his family that she couldn’t make out from the blood pounding in her ears.
> 
> Fuck.

“Does it still hurt?” Joseph prodded. With his words and hands. He hadn’t stopped touching her since his brothers brought her before him. Shoving her a little too harshly to the ground on her knees with bound wrists. He had cupped her cheeks and ran long slender fingers through her hair, down the back of her neck and just barely brushing the start of feathers on her shoulder blades when he dipped his hands down her shirt.

“He asked you a question deputy.” John hummed. Rocking on his heels and smiling wide.

“Heard him.” Rook grumbled, head tipping down and cheeks heating up when Joseph leaned closer to inspect how the feathers were sprouting out of her skin like teeming weeds in a garden.

“Well?” Joseph asked softly, taking that moment to press down where the base of her left wing was. It made her jolt from where she sat on the wooden floor. Almost losing balance if not for colliding with Jacob’s legs, that’d be the first time she’d be thankful he decided to watch her so closely.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Faith mumbled from where she was sitting with dainty legs crossed on the small stage they had at the front of the church.

Rook nodded a confirmation when Joseph pulled back and rose an eyebrow. From up this close she could see his true concern. How his level of worry ran several layers deep despite the calm facade he was putting up as a mask. Or a safety harness to stop himself from utterly freaking out like any normal person would be. Exactly like she was, and not just on the inside. Her body was shaking violently, skin turning pale from the sudden pain rushing through her bones.

She tipped her head back to follow Joseph as he stood, pacing back and forth and muttering things to his family that she couldn’t make out from the blood pounding in her ears.

Fuck.

Only tiny snippets were getting through, words she was desperately trying to hang onto.

“I told you I could take care of her.”

“Maybe. But can you love her John?”

“And you think Jacob is capable of love?”

 

“Well he took care of us didn’t he? He can take care of Rook, perhaps teach her to fly. He works with animals daily.”

There was a stint of silence that made her drag her eyes up from the gnarled worn floor to the family. None of which were paying her any mind.

“I s’pose. I’m up for a challenge.”

Rook couldn’t mistake the angry grunt that came a second later than anyone else but John Seed. His harsh footsteps rung out before he came into her field of view. Crouching down in front of her and holding her jaw tenderly, showing an expression she could recall him using during her baptism when he watched Joseph walk away from him. It was a gaze she couldn’t break away from, not when there was such tenderness there.

“I won’t be forgetting you deputy, and this won’t be the last time I’m seeing you, If I can’t make sure of that, God will.” He pushed their heads together. Sighing when she complied, not like she could put up much of a fight, not when the subtle movement made her world spin and turn.

She turned her head to follow him out. Only barely noticing the shift of tense muscles under his coat.

“Rook.” Again Joseph was up in her space. Lifting her to her feet and supporting her weight when her knees knocked together. “Did you hear us?”

She mumbled a response, a confirmation despite only catching the tail end of what they spoke about. Her skull was bashing a tune she was having a hard time keeping up with and she was trembling as if cold, there was no way she’d be able to listen to him.

“Good. You’ll be safe with Jacob. Trust me. Trust him and we will protect you.”

Once again she bobbed her head, neck only being kept upright from the hold Joseph had on her, gentle and comforting even with his status. Jacob would be a different story wouldn’t he. But she was so so so tired. Ready to nod off, christ she didn’t even need a bed, and actually...with the way Jacob was hefting her over his shoulders and completely ignoring Josephs complaints, yeah she could make do with that.

“Please be careful.”

There was a sudden spill of light that made her snarl out of annoyance.

“The fuck do you thinks gonna happen.”

“You could drop her and break her wings.” Joseph snapped. Footsteps coming to a halt when Jacob stopped abruptly by his truck. Then she was moving again. Seeing the ground fast approaching before she was slotted in Jacob’s arms and making the quick transition to the passenger seat of his car.

She was slumped forward slightly. Noticing immediately how impossible it was to lean on her back, that there was this extra padding from the hefty limbs she was lugging around on her back. It wasn’t uncomfortable. More like a giant pillow, but foreign nonetheless.

The car bounced from the addition of Jacob’s weight as he slotted himself behind the wheel. He let out a sigh before leaning over to clip her seatbelt shut, eyes pointedly staring at the feathers peaking out from her jacket.

“Those things fully grown? Joseph said they looked bigger than the last time he saw you.”

“Dunno.” She murmured, hand reaching over her shoulder to brush at them.

“If they get any bigger might have to start finding you looser clothes. Or hell,” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he navigated the streets. “Maybe I’ll just cut some holes in your clothes so they won’t be trapped.” He was more talking to himself. Not relying on her to listen with how utterly exhausted she looked, and besides, at the end of the day it wasn’t her decision what happened to her. Joseph gave him that power.

“Do whatever.”

“That fight died out real quick dep. You’ve been raising hell for months, made us give chase for a week to catch your ass. You finally done?”

She snorted, eyes flicking up to him and--ah, there it was, that wrath his brother spoke about so reverently inside her. “Just tired Jacob. Talk to me tomorrow.” She flipped on her side, substituting his amused expression for a view of the passing trees and carnage on the side of the road.

“Oh we’ll be doing more than talking dep trust me, we’ve got so much work to do.”

*****

Waking was more terrifying than it had any right to be. She remembered passing out in Jacob’s car, letting the soothing motion lull her off to sleep. And now...now she was thrashing on the ground as Jacob struggled to hold her down. His hand a solid force on the middle of her back, between her wings. Trying to pin them down so he could get a grip on them.

“C’mon dep, work with me here.” He grunted out. Though she was very adverse to that idea because the man had what looked like a very rusty pair of garden shears in his hands. And the sharp tool was aimed at the wings she had acquired. As much as she hated the things, she hated pain worse. Was a complete bitch when she was hurting, so nope, struggling it was.

“Can’t do this if you’re squirming.”

“Then don’t fucking do it!”

His sudden weight was gone. Lifting up and off of her, instead opting to yank her to her feet by her hair and tossing her on a bed she hadn't noticed. “Read somewhere clipping em early promotes growth.”

“You’re fucking crazy.” Her heart was hammering, pittering against her rib cage. Adrenaline was flooding her veins worse than it ever has. Making her jumpy and...stronger. At least she felt much stronger. Quicker too, something in her body was screaming at her to get up and go. That whether she ran or fought she’d come out on top. That idea was buzzing around in her head, making her see strange colors in her vision with the amount of energy that was coursing through her system. It was making her dizzy.

God, she knew it was stupid, reckless too. But Jacob was advancing on her like she was a scared deer and he was still holding those damn shears that looked like they’d give her tetanus. So fuck it right? It was worth a shot.

She went for it. Kept her head down low until she could see him out of the corner of her eye and he was dangerously close. She launched herself at him. Taking him to the floor only due to surprise. Rook didn’t stick around long enough to see him recover, or to witness how mad he was. She just left, ran through his office door with little more than a flimsy tank top, noting how Jacob must’ve ridded her of her jacket to get to her wings. The thought made her shudder as she zigzagged between corridors.

She was getting out. Going to safety, though where that was she wasn’t entirely sure. Not anymore. Exactly who would harbor a girl who not only had wings, but who was being hunted by the heralds of a damn cult who were hellbent on capturing their angel?


	11. [Angel Rook pt 3] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Rook flying for the first time
> 
>  
> 
> She was gone in an instant, alarm swelling over as her rash decisions skyrocketed as she took one last look over the cliff. Teeth biting roughly down on her lip as she sent up a quick prayer. Something along the lines of wishing not to die by free falling. Yet on the off chance she did, willing Him to have the mercy to make it quick.
> 
> Rook breathed in deep, was distantly aware of Jacob’s pleas, sounding angry and desperate at the same time. The man must’ve been terrified when she let herself tip over the side, allowing gravity to do all the work and carry her down.

She was running off of pure fear at this point. Keeping her eyes locked in front of her and blocking out all else, even the chaos behind her.

It was an odd sense of déjà vu that filled her thoughts as she pushed weeds of out her way. Stumbling along through the woods with wolves snapping at her heels and the dark imagery of her wings getting snipped like she was some bird to keep locked away in the damn zoo.

Her eyes were sharper. Clearer and extending longer than it had before. Letting her see the details of leaves and the start of a cliff face.

Rook let herself stop. Skidding and sending a spray of rocks over the edge. Thank God, she didn’t fall with it. For now, she was safe. Safe from the hardened ground below, but not from Jacob.

Her wings were twitching in anticipation. Feathers fluttering in the breeze and bones creaking as she hesitantly extended them for the first time. When she was met with no resistance from the loose fabric of her tank top she reached her hand around her shoulder. Cringing at the feel of her wings before she was met with skin and the frayed slits from a large vertical cut letting her new appendages spread freely.

So Jacob made that decision fast than.

That was fine, she’d worry about freezing in the chilled mountain air later, perhaps when she wasn’t stuck between two deadly situations. Right now she had a choice to make.

She backed up slowly. Glancing behind her, shoes scuffing right on the edge.

“Careful now pup.”

Her head whipped around quickly. Shoulders hiking up around her neck for a moment before she unfurled, meeting Jacob’s gaze. Damn, the man was fast.

“Wouldn’t wanna fall. Just come here. Don’t do anything stupid.”

His words carried over to her, devoid of hostility. That was an act though. Because the Jacob she knew was quick to stab you in the back if he really thought he was doing the world a service. She shook her head. Hair swaying in her face and masking her blind panic.

“You don’t know how to use those things.” He nodded to her wings, to where they were partially extended. Showing off more colors running down their length. He almost looked impressed. And that made her check behind her. Seeing the tips doused in a white so bright it was reflecting off the sun. Followed by a black that was almost navy blue. “Just come to me. Let me teach you at least.”

He was steadily getting closer. Keeping a hand pushed out towards her, showing her his empty palm. Like that would do anything to quell the growing anxiety bubbling up inside her chest and threatening to make her keel over.

She was gone in an instant, alarm swelling over as her rash decisions skyrocketed as she took one last look over the cliff. Teeth biting roughly down on her lip as she sent up a quick prayer. Something along the lines of wishing not to die by free falling. Yet on the off chance she did, willing Him to have the mercy to make it quick.

Rook breathed in deep, was distantly aware of Jacob’s pleas, sounding angry and desperate at the same time. The man must’ve been terrified when she let herself tip over the side, allowing gravity to do all the work and carry her down.

The rushing of wind filled her head, her ears popped painfully loud and made her scream. In fact, she kept screaming. It gave her something to focus on because the ground was coming faster than she anticipated and her wings were still plastered to her spine. Like she had gotten stage fright at the last moment.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth, throat already feeling hoarse. Flipped around, belly towards the rising ground, she crossed her arms, gripping tight to her shoulders and extended her wings quickly, trying her best not to think about it and just act. Using the bones as if she’s done it her whole life. Though the fact that it took twenty seconds just to make them flick open in one fluid motion was evidence that this was like learning to walk. It wasn’t innate, not at all something you were born with. It was a skill. One that she didn’t possess.

Christ, what had she been thinking?

She was guessing that whatever Peggies were gathered at the cliffside was enjoying the show. The sight she made must have been pathetic, with her flailing and squirming in the air, desperately trying to flap. She was human, and that was a verb that should never be used on her, yet she was cursing under her breath and willing it to happen.

Are you happy now Jacob? That thought came across bitterly. Because no doubt Jacob was leaning down on bended knee, fist curling in the dirt, face pressed into his open palm and watching with sick amusement. It was like him to see if a bird could learn to fly just by tossing them out of the nest and scolding them for their mistakes. Well, he got what he wanted. Only now the threat of death was increasingly real.

With her wings out, the wind making the feathers flutter and whistle at the sharp speed she was going, she gritted her teeth and moved the bones down. Closing her eyes and conjuring up something deep inside her that felt like molten fire running down the length of her wings. Feeling the bones twitch in response as she became aware of their structure and moved them down.

Not exactly flying. But it slowed her descent by a margin. And for now, that would have to be enough.

She kept up with that motion, pushing down against the wind and letting the breeze snap her wings back up. It was like clockwork as she got into rhythm. She let out a laugh as she felt herself move up for the first time. Flying. This was halfway to flying.

She rose steadily, hands held to her chest carefully. Legs bent, and head tipped down. Fear fluttering in her heart as she met instead gazes from the Peggies who was watching her. Flickering their eyes between her and their herald.

Jacob. He was crouching, just as she guessed. Head raised to keep a close view on her. Always tracking her movements.

“Suck on this Jacob!”

If she were closer, she would’ve seen the trace of a smile on his lips. Pride glistening in his eyes. Something close to amusement from her vulgarity. Control was....interesting. And not working. So she struggled, flapping her wings and feeling a burn deep in her bones. She dipped and twirled, throwing a whoop into the air, going as far as to raise her fist in defiance. Catching Jacob’s eyes one last time before going in the other direction and ignoring the way her mind lit up at gaining a man of his calibers praise.

“Honey. Just come on down here, promise I’ll play nice.” He held a palm to his chest, rubbing his heart fondly in a gesture he must’ve picked up from John. His right hand rose up in mock surrender. 

“You’re gonna have to chase me, Jacob.” She smiled widely, gaze sweeping over the swarm of people who had guns trained on her. “But unless you suddenly gained a reputation for being a pilot…” She let out a sharp whistle, one that just barely reached the ground with how high up she was. “Well, I guess you’re shit outta luck there.” Rook swiveled carefully, still gaining the feel for the almost too large wings pinned to her back, maybe 17 feet of feathers that were already collecting dirt.

It wasn’t a graceful exit by any means. But she was moving, getting far, far away from Jacob and the men who intended to keep her under lock and key just because the heralds said so.

She was 50 miles away, eating up land way faster than any helicopter ever could. Making the ground below turn into a blur. That’s why it was even more surprised when she was suddenly going down. Taking in a new angle of dive bombing to the earth like her plan was slamming into the rocks below.

Above her, she heard muted curses and screams. That was around the same time she registered the burning feeling in her left wing. And the blood pouring down on her shoulder and making a mess as she tossed through the air like a rag doll. Struggling to slow down to do anything that would make her less likely to turn into a pancake in the sparse collection of weeds that decorated the world.

Her body caught on danging branches, flipping her mid-air as her fall was slowed by the leaves that grabbed hold of her. She pressed her wings to her back, folding them in before the bones had the opportunity to snap.

When she hit the ground, it was on her back. Breath leaving her in a flash. She sputtered and coughed at the pain trailing its way through her limbs, threatening to keep her lying on the dirty floor.

She had to move, there were seconds earned between her and Jacob's men from the stunt she just pulled. They couldn't exactly jump the way she did. And the thought made her smile. Because she was alive, relatively uninjured. She had a few hours, tops, to turn tail and run.

Let the game begin.


	12. [Captured pt 1] PolySeed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: What would've happened if Dutch didn't find Rook after the car crashed into the water and she got onto shore?
> 
>  
> 
> Said family that was standing off to the side. Ever present in her peripheral vision
> 
> Rook wasn’t that stupid, not when her head was still fuzzy from getting thrown off a damn bridge into water that made her limbs feel heavy. Too heavy to run away from the men rushing towards her with guns shoved in her face threatening to blow her head off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind that this whole series is quite like my other one shots. It will only progress through the requests I get. I want to cater to the demand of the people. So if you like something and would like to see if continue you gotta let me know or I won’t keep going and I’ll assume it wasn’t a popular series.

“I don’t want to force your hand child.”

Bullshit, the way his men bound her hands and shoved her roughly to her knees, right at his feet as he sat in a wooden pew. Yeah, she wasn’t exactly in a trusting mood.

“You need to see the way we think and accept us. I want you to realize on your own how great of a change this would be for you.” His voice was eerily calm, despite the fact that he was cupping her face in both hands, eyes slipping over her bruised eye. Acting like his men weren’t the ones who delivered the harsh blow right in front of him and his family.

Said family that was standing off to the side. Ever present in her peripheral vision as if she was going to attack their cherished Father.

Rook wasn’t that stupid, not when her head was still fuzzy from getting thrown off a damn bridge into water that made her limbs feel heavy. Too heavy to run away from the men rushing towards her with guns shoved in her face threatening to blow her head off.

For now, she’d kneel by him with the muscles in her neck getting sore from how he was tipping her head up, tuning out his craziness for the sake of her own sanity.

“I know you’re scared--” she laughed softly at him, noticing how his hands slipped from her jaw to cradle around her neck. “That you may be nervous, but we have no ill intentions towards you. You just need to trust us.” He leaned down, closer to her face until she could see the colors in his eyes through the yellow tinted glasses he wore.

“Can you do that for us, Rook? Will you let us guide you?”

She bit her lip in response. Painfully aware that the priest of this church had a fucking gun strapped to his thigh and one of his brothers was built like a tank. Her choices were limited, and he knew it. He backed her into a corner.

“He asked you a question.”

When Rook tried swiveling her head around to see which one of his brothers was practically snarling at her for disrespecting the man who sat before her, Joseph's hands tightened around her neck minutely. A subtle warning.

“It’s okay John. There’s no need to get angry at her.”

“No need?” She caught a flicker of blue before someone came crashing down next to her. Eyes matching the same color as his shirt latched onto her profile view. She wasn't looking at him head-on, but she could tell that those eyes seemed to be filled with wrath. “She dared to interrupt our service and forced us to give chase. She caused chaos and has only been here for an hour.”

“What are you suggesting John?” Joseph’s voice was patient, standing out in contrast with his temperamental brother. His thumb was swiping at her throat in a way to still her the racing of her heart that he could feel pulsing agaisnt his finger.

“Let me take her.” There was an immediate chuckle turned scoff from behind her that made John tense, cheeks heating up and just barely seen with the dim lights overhead. “Please Joseph.”

“Why?”

It wasn’t a no, and that made Rook shudder. Eyes widening when Joseph caught her gaze. It was some sort of plea that fell flat.

“Maybe this one was a gift, for--,” John closed his eyes for half a second. “F-for me. I was the one who stopped her, it was the men under my command who caught her." He shuffled closer, something nearing to literal panic in his gaze as he placed a gentle grip on Joseph's knee. As if that alone would show his sibling that he wasn't as dangerous as he seemed. "Just a few days ago you said how I needed to learn how to love them. The members of our flock, so let me love this one, it’ll be a show of faith Joseph. Show that you can trust me just this once to take care of the one you think is special.”

“You’re looking after deputy Hudson." Joseph drew Rook's head down to rest on his knee, her cheek pressed flat to the denim of his jeans. Head tipping to face John, his pinky only an inch away from her nose.

Joseph inhaled deeply, hand resting on the back of her skull. "I know what she means to me, to this project. I can feel it. But what role does she play in your personal life that you'd want her as badly as you do? Why is she unique to you?" A valid question. One that she hoped he couldn’t answer because, despite his well put together appearance, there was a madness right below the surface.

“Why is she so unique?” John repeated. A nervous laugh dropping out a moment later. “Look at her, at how calm she’s been. She hasn’t cried or screamed, she hasn’t spit in my face." It was a weak argument. He was pulling at straws, scrambling for anything to say that would fit into the agenda playing out in his head. "I need you to trust me. Brother.”

“I do trust you.”

“Then let me have this.” He hopped to his feet, hands on his hips and chin tilted down. “I have to prove myself somehow. So I can have someone by my side who I’ve chosen. Or I'll keep down the path I’m going. I'll do things my way like I have been ever since I became the Baptist for Eden's Gate.”

“You won’t survive John, I told you what I’ve seen--”

“Then I guess I’ll die. And when I do, you’ll remember this moment and wished you changed your mind, because it’ll be your fault.”

Rook was shaking all over again. This wasn’t her fight. She was caught in the middle like a damn chess piece. A fucking rook. She was being fought over like a toy, almost as a peace treaty meant to bring a family together.

“I don’t want to see you dead John. I love you, I want you to be by my side after the collapse. Just...please prove me wrong when I say that I believe that this woman won't bring about the change you've been looking for. Don’t make me regret this John. You know I’d go to great lengths to see you safe, so take her and change your ways before it’s too late.”


	13. [a/b/o pt 1] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
> “Trying to impress me pup.” Not even a question. It didn’t need to be. “I can help.” She heard the dirt under him shift as he stood. Drawing her attention to him standing, moving to open her cage door.
> 
> Her mind drew back in to what he was doing. What his intentions were.
> 
> Rook scrambled to get up, only to fall back down on her knees. Trembling as he got closer. “Can’t back out on me Deputy.”
> 
> “I remember telling you to fuck off.”

“Jesus. That’s you pushing your scent pup?” She curled up further into herself. Willing her inner omega to calm the fuck down upon Jacob’s sudden presence. “Could smell ya from all the way across the yard. Who’s attention are you trying to get?” Her mouth stayed shut, but her eyes opened. Finding the soldier crouching back on his haunches and peering in at her through the bars of the cage.

“Hm?” He tipped his head, eyes shining when she didn’t answer him.

“Jacob please…”

“Go head pup. Speak. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Leave.” From his wide eyes that was the last thing he was expecting. The laugh he gave off a second later made her realize he was still in control. That he could care less that she was in heat. A month early she might add. “I’m begging you Jacob. Leave. I can’t—“ she inhaled deeply despite herself.

Rook moaned under her breath. Biting down on her forearm with anger.

“Now that’s not proper begging. At least not the kind I’m gonna accept.” She cocked an eyebrow. Nuzzling into the crook of her arm like she could escape him. “Come here. Hands and knees, beg for me.”

Fuck it. If that’s what it would take for him to piss off and let her suffer alone, so be it. He was already fucking her up. Making slick pour out from between her legs, getting her ready for a partner she didn’t have. He knew what he was doing too, she could tell from the smile he held as she crawled his way.

Her eyes were kept down. Panting breaths left her as she got closer. Sucking in his scent like it was fresh air. By the time she was kneeling in front of him, her cheek was pressed into the mud, ass up in the air of her own accord.

“Aw. Would ya look at that. So needy.” His hand reached through the bars, brushing at her jaw. Moving back and forth and driving her wild. “What’s wrong?” Jacob asked softly.

“Are you fucking stupid?”

“Watch it pup. I asked you a question.”

Her eyes slid closed. A whine almost pulling out of her throat. Rook reached over to grab his wrist. Pulling his hand close to her lips and tasting the dirt on his fingers. From their close proximity she could hear his sharp breaths and the shaky exhale he gave a second later.

“Wanna know what’s wrong?” Her eyes found his, nipping at the tip of his finger and seeing his eyes dilate. “S’my heat. It’s been so long..and I just...fuck.” Her hips twitched. Grinding into the earth like that would relieve her.

“Jacob?” She pulled his hand out of her mouth. Seeing how his eyes followed the string of saliva that connected them. “Do I have your permission to take my clothes off?”

He laughed. Full and loud. She found she liked that sound, that her body adored it from the rush of slick that made her pants stick to her legs. He glanced around, finding no one near, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s what you wanna do? If you think it’s gonna help, I’m not gonna stop you.”

That was all she needed to roll away from him, moving on her back to wrestle with her clothes. Tearing them off her body and tossing them behind her.

Her legs spread wide without her command. It was instinctual. Showing off to a potential mate.

Her position showed him everything. Gave him a perfect view of her cunt. Clenching around nothing and in need of something between her legs.

Jacob whistled, smiling when he heard her whimper. “Trying to impress me pup.” Not even a question. It didn’t need to be. “I can help.” She heard the dirt under him shift as he stood. Drawing her attention to him standing, moving to open her cage door.

Her mind drew back in to what he was doing. What his intentions were.

Rook scrambled to get up, only to fall back down on her knees. Trembling as he got closer. “Can’t back out on me Deputy.”

“I remember telling you to fuck off.”

“No.” He fell down on his knees next to her. “Don’t be like that. Not after the show you just put on.” He grabbed her chin. Tipping her head up to force her to look at him. “Now present yourself for your alpha.”

Rook keened in her throat. Trying to shake him off as his hands guided her to shift her ass in the air, raising her hips to meet his clothed cock. “Think you’re in any position to argue?” He slapped her ass. Grabbing it a second later. Spreading her cheeks apart and humming his approval. “You put on quite the show, someone deserves to see it up close.” He ran his finger up her slit, neglecting to fully push the digit inside. Egging her on, wanting her to push back into him.

All he got was a hushed snarl, lost to the dirt. “You won’t be able to last much longer Rook.” Two fingers pushed inside her, walls clenching to try and force him out. “You think my men aren’t talking about ya? That they wouldn’t kill just to have a taste when my back is turned?” He leaned over her, pushing a kiss to the back of her ear. Fingers twirling around inside of her. Pressing up on a sensitive spot that made her see stars. “I’m trying to protect you.” He laughed lowly, smiling when the noise made her tighten around his fingers.

“Yeah,” his voice dropped an octave lower, “Imagine that. For once the big bad wolf is helping you out.” Jacob’s hand drew back, going to flip her on her back. Shoving her legs apart with a soft growl of ‘no none of that,’ when she tried to stubbornly shut them. He slotted himself in between. Moved his hips so she could feel the promising bulge there, putting himself on display for her. “You wanna save your pride and get raped,” it wasn’t lost on him how she flinched roughly at his tone, “Fine. Fucking go for it. Try to take your chances against my best men in their most primal state.”

He pulled away from her. Wiping his slicked fingers on her naked thigh as he went. Turning on his heel and slamming the cage door shut, twisting the lock in the key.

“Arturo!” The man Jacob called over was tossed the keys. “Keep those safe for me.”

He shot her a smile. Not bothering to hear the unsteady ‘yes sir,’ his soldier delivered a second later. Too busy smelling her fear.


	14. [Pregnant pt 1] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Joseph finding out the Deputy is pregnant
> 
> Of course He intended to give Joseph a proper family once the world was cleansed. It was only natural.

He wasn’t sure the deputy leading him out of his church was even aware. But he was, he couldn’t miss it. Not when she pressed up close behind him, fear evident in each small panting breath she gave off as his flock hurled obscenities. If he didn't think he’d scare her further, he’d tell his followers to calm down, that the one behind him, pushing into him as she slammed to a halt, was pregnant. He felt it, the tiny swell of her stomach against his lower back was unmistakable. He’s had a wife who bore him a child before, he would know.

Joseph tipped his gaze skyward when they began walking again, eyes shuttering close as he heard the chopping noise of the helicopter the deputies must’ve arrived in. The prayer he mumbled under his breath was one of gratitude. A personal thank you to the man in the sky who gifted Joseph with such a divine gift when the collapse was almost upon them. Of course He intended to give Joseph a proper family once the world was cleansed. It was only natural.

The deputy’s hands--he turned his gaze over his shoulder to check her name plate--Rook, her hands were soft and gentle as she lifted him up into a seat. Her back hit the cheap leather seats with a rough thud that made his throat tighten with worry.

If not for the too loud noises of the chopper taking off, he’d tell her to be more careful. But the bird was already lifting and Joseph was too busy trying to fight the swell of panic in his chest at what might become of the girl sitting across from him. If God decided to save him so he would be able to guide his flock and fulfill his duty, he prayed he’d save her too. For that meant she was truly meant for him. And that thought alone made it hard not to smile when the helicopter began spiraling out of control.

The period of silence, save for the ringing in his ears; made his heart race, it was hard to breathe with the smokiness of the confined space of the metal death trap he was stuck in.

Joseph was quick to climb out. Shoving at the door that was partially open, only leaving him a small amount of room to squeeze out of. His shoulder was scraped, palms getting dirtied by the dusty ground as he crawled along the floor. Hands bracing on a nearby car to pull himself up.

He stood like that for a long while. Focusing on breathing, sending up prayers of thanks that he was still alive. And as far as he could tell, unharmed. The crack in his glasses was a small price to pay if it meant he could stay with his flock. He was okay.

Except something was missing.

In a matter of seconds he was scared all over again. Hanging his head low and listening to the sound of airplanes racing overhead mingled with the cries of his followers from far away.

He pushed himself forward, away from the relative safety of the car to stumble along to the other side of the helicopter. Glancing in briefly to see if anyone was alive. So far all he was greeted with was closed eyes. Though he wasn’t looking that hard for their chests moving. He had a certain deputy on his mind.

“Please.”

Joseph fell to the ground, cutting up his jeans worse than they already were as he wrenched open the metal door. Cutting open his hand across the middle and hissing in pain. He held it to his chest, carefully climbing in the upside down chopper.

“Please be okay. Dear God…” He was mumbling under his breath eyes wide as he ran a hand over her neck, feeling a twitch of muscles in response when he pressed down. “Rook?” The words felt right on his tongue. Made him smile when he saw her eyelids flutter. She was fine. She was going to be okay, they both were.

“You’re safe.” He wasn’t sure if she could hear him from how her eyes were clouded over as she struggled with the concussion she probably gained.

“You’re perfectly safe now child. Placed right where you’ve always meant to be.” He leaned down, pushing his lips to her cheek, right above a small cut. Hopefully her only injury.

Hopefully…

His hand moved to her bulging stomach. Covering it with his non bloodied hand. “This one’s safe too. Now that I’m here to help.” He laughed softly. Not caring to notice her confusion. There’d be time to explain later. Right now he had a long walk back to his church.

His family needed to know that a new Seed was to be introduced to Eden’s Gate and accepted as a gift from God.


	15. [a/b/o pt 2] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request:
> 
>  
> 
> “You impressed me, you know that? You did good, riding out your heat all alone for weeks the way you did. Must’ve been rough deputy. Think you deserve a reward?”

“You’re stronger than I thought pup, holding out for as long as you did.” He shushed and cooed at her when she whined. “I know, I know honey. Just breathe, right there,” He pushed her head further into his neck so she could nose at his scent gland. Taking in the gunpowder smell that mingled with something subtle and sweet. 

“You impressed me, you know that? You did good, riding out your heat all alone for weeks the way you did. Must’ve been rough deputy. Think you deserve a reward?” Rook whimpered again, nipping at his throat out of desperation and wrapping her arms around his shoulders tighter to keep from falling as he carried her. “Yeah? I think so too, you gotta give a dog a bone if ya want them to be loyal. That’s what I plan to do with you.” 

She sighed into his skin. Limbs turning into jelly when his scent washed over her, making her body tremor as her walls clenched around nothing. 

“So needy.” It came out as a stern reprimand. As if he wasn’t the one who made her desperate in the first place. “Don’t worry. I’ve got ya.”

She shouldn’t be trusting him. Shouldn’t have let him carry her out of her cage in the dead of night and cradle her naked body close to him. She definitely shouldn’t be allowing him to bring her upstairs and into his room, holding her gently like they were lovers. 

And yet…

Her body flopped on his bed when he placed her down. Rook sprawled out on her back. Legs spread wide as she pinched her nipples in some sort of stimulation. The feeling had the desired effect. Making a new rush of slick coat between her thighs and prepare for a partner. 

“You want this dep?” Jacob asked softly, hand tangling in her hair to force her head back to look at where he stood. Her throat was too dry to answer. Her mind short-circuited about around the time he had reached for his belt and began taking himself out.

“You’re big.”

Jacob chuckled. A half smile forming on his lips, one that was a tad too smug. “Think you can take it?” 

Rook wasted no time nodding a confirmation. Hand circling his wrist to tug him around towards the bed until he got the idea and climbed on top of her. Fists grabbing at her hands and pushing her wandering fingers away with a slight tsk. “How about my knot? Think you can take that too?”

 

“Mhm, I’m strong.” She was panting, widening her legs further to accommodate his large frame. Her mind was a blur of Jacob. Dialing down to him and just agreeing like an idiot all because she wanted his knot. 

Somewhere along the line common sense left the building, and all she was left with was the growing need inside her. 

“That’s right sweetheart. You are strong. Keep up this streak of yours and I might be inclined to keep you.” 

Jacob shifted downward. Scent flowing with him, not as in her face as it was a moment ago. She felt a throbbing in her chest. Something running deeper than the urge for fucking like animals filling up inside her. 

She must’ve whined, or snarled at him when he spread her legs and dropped his head in between, whatever it was it was enough for Jacob to slap at her thigh as a slight punishment with the command for her to calm down. 

She would absolutely not. 

Her legs wound tight around his head when Jacob lowered himself, prodding around as if experimenting. Mapping out her body and seeing what would garner the best reaction from her. Lying his tongue flat over her clit and applying the smallest pressure made her squeal before he licked through her folds. Making obscene noises that he didn’t seem to be ashamed of in the slightest.

“I’m ready for fucks sake!” Rook wept, thighs tightening in some sort of warning. One that did seem to do something considering how he pulled back. Beard slick with her juices. 

“Yeah, not too tight? Figured it’d been a while since you've ever had a partner, much less since you've gone through your heat.”

“Jacob, please don’t make me beg.” It came out as a panting whisper as she wrangled him closer until she could feel the hard outline of his cock against her thigh. 

“Beg? Did ya think I’d just give it to you?” He laughed softly at the way her face fell. “No.” he grabbed her jaw to make her shake her head. Back and forth. Back and forth, taunt that had her growling. 

“No that’d be a sin, wouldn't it? Joseph came by the other day.” Jacob whispered into her ear, biting at the lobe. “Said I couldn't mate you, that I couldn't fuck you either. But he said if there was any way to alleviate your pain…” His words died off as he reached over the side of the bed, grabbing at her wrists to pin to the headboard before tying her up. 

“You can lie here, beside me, if you really wanna, try to grind against me if you’re that desperate. I’ll let ya smell me if you want to. That’ll help.” Except it wouldn't. They both knew that having him that close with her only able to take in his scent, she'd go crazy from want.

Rook was shaking her head. Mumbling incoherently under her breath as he tossed off his clothes and collapsed down beside her. Pressing the side of his head under her breast. Close enough for her to catch his scent but not enough to get any pleasure from him.

“You can’t.” 

“I can.” He confirmed a second later, tilting his head to swipe his tongue over her nipple just to watch her squirm. “Good night pup, sweet dreams.”


	16. [Pregnant pt 2] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: 
> 
> Joseph pushed on, he had a gift, held right in his grasp, and he wouldn't let the ignorance of his family impede what he was trying to build. Not when he so clearly could see him and this woman lying with a child after the fall of the world.

She was trembling in his arms, and his family was staring at him like he was crazy. 

Not a good start.

But Joseph pushed on, he had a gift, held right in his grasp, and he wouldn't let the ignorance of his family impede what he was trying to build. Not when he so clearly could see him and this woman lying with a child after the fall of the world. 

"She is special, that I'm sure of." 

"How sure?" Jacob shifted on his feet, giving the deputy a once over with judgment flashing in his eyes. "She came outta nowhere trying to arrest you, and less than an hour later you figured out she was special?" 

John kept silent, standing shoulder to shoulder with his sister. He wouldn't say it aloud, God, he'd never dare to, but he was just as skeptical as their older brother was. 

Sure, when she had first walked in, he noticed how much confidence she held in her gait. He could recognize that her features were slight and looking too docile to be in the middle of Joseph's Island disrupting their sermon. So much so that when he shared glances with Jacob, they tossed a smile between the two of them, one that told each other they liked what they were looking at. But nothing ran through his head that told him this doomsday bringer would start the beginning of the end in a way devoid of any violence.

John didn't talk to God, so of course he wouldn't have picked up on anything special about the deputy who caught his eye. And to be honest, a new addition to the family instilled fear in him. Made his knees weak and had his hands tightening together where they were laced behind his back. It'd give Joseph another person to put before John. A woman who he looked at as though he loved her and a baby he seemed to already claim as his own. It meant they had to speed up gathering supplied in preparation for the collapse, it signaled the start of more work on all the herald's part. It was an additional headache that was making John woozy with the thought of hoping for the first time in a while, that Joseph's visions were wrong.

"Don't patronize me Jacob." His arms tightened around Rook, dipping his head into the crown of her hair to breathe in deep the slight smokey smell that clung to her skin from the crash. "I haven't led you astray so far."

"I guess." Jacob shrugged. Taking a few steps forward to check for mania in his brother's eyes. "But this is a little far fetched. Maybe..." His face twisted painfully, eyes appearing hooded before he could finish his sentence.

"Yes?" Joseph raised his head minutely. 

"We've got expectant mothers in Eden's Gate. New kids being born almost monthly. Maybe it brought back some memories."

"My daughter and wife have nothing to do with this--"

"You've been spending too long at the med bay. Going over to the nursery more than usual."

"Something compelled me to go there!" Joseph's nostrils flared as he walked up to his brother, relinquishing his grasp on Rook. "There was some aching in my chest that told me to spend my days around those pure, innocent souls. And now I know why." He smiled, reaching out to hold onto Jacob's arms with a tight grip. Trying and failing to mask his anger for needing to defend his actions to his own family. "God was mentally preparing me for this moment."

"You've taken the first pregnant woman who you could find, whose husband can't tell you 'no,' just to fill out some fantasy?"

"It's not like that." Joseph's voice dropped meekly. Eye brightening for half a second when catching the apprehension in Jacob's gaze. "Are you scared to get hurt? I know you and John suffered too when I told you the loss of your niece--"

"Don't go there, Joseph. That was our blood, our one chance at a family. We aren't accepting this stranger or her kid." Jacob brushed past Joseph, resisting the childish urge to slam his shoulder into him as he walked out, leaving Faith and John to deal with Joseph's craziness.

"Do you two feel the same? Is Jacob speaking for all of you?" 

Faith was quick to mask her panic by twisting it into concern for the wounded man that stood with hunched shoulders. She crowded his space, holding tightly onto his hands and whispering just the right words to make a smile come to his face and granted access for her to leave with his shining approval.

That left John.

Standing like a deer in the headlights. Eyes blown wide, shoulders reared back in some show of confidence that was too false to fool anyone, especially his brother.

"John. Come here." 

Lifting his feet and crossing that short distance made John feel sick. It felt like lead was weighing down his shoes before he finally stood by Joseph's side. Eyes skipping over Rook, trailing down to her swelling stomach.

"This could be your salvation. It could be the step that will wash away your sin of wrath for good. This woman who you look at with disgust could very well be your free passage into the Gates of Eden. It's not too late brother, do not make the mistake of casting her out when she is the last chance given to you by God." Joseph pressed their foreheads together to soften the blow of his words. Petting at John's hair like he was a child, and from the look of fear in his eyes, it seemed that Joseph had reduced him to one just by his softly delivered words.

Joseph motioned for John to leave him and Rook alone in his church, forcing John to take careful steps outside with a lump forming in his throat and tears gathering at his eyes.


	17. [Forced Marriage pt 1] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Request: Some yandere Joseph with a married Rook. Dark fluff

At the start of this mess Rook had fought Joseph every step of the way. Didn't want to fall into the role he had laid out so perfectly for her. The demure, quiet housewife was the exact opposite of who she was. But they had a deal. A deal that, if broken, would end with her friend’s blood on her hands and she’d still be stuck with Joseph. A dramatic self sacrifice that she regretted more and more everyday.

The ideas he had on what a wife’s duty was archaic at best. Some old school bullshit she had a sneaking hunch that he remembers seeing from his childhood. An awful combination of his parent’s interactions to what he always dreamed of having as a kid.

He shrouded it in the guise of wanting to keep her safe. That she was meant to be by his side during the collapse, he would never even tease the idea of putting her in harm's way. That's why her days were the same monotonous boring bullshit. They went as followed, like clockwork. Save for the minute changes that barely kept her sane.

She learned quickly that Joseph was an early riser. That he didn't need an alarm clock by the bedside table to rouse him, he’d simply keep the curtains wide open to allow the first rays of the sun to brighten the room up until all he could see was a fiery orange behind his closed lids. That was him though, she's always needed something more. Would shove her face further under the blankets to escape morning. Joseph fixed that real fast. Was more than happy to be the one to wake her with soft touches reserved for people who truly loved one another. Not whatever this sadistic form of marriage was that he conjured up and forced her into.

There were prayers each morning. Hands on her shoulders as he shoved her down onto the hardened floor by the bed first thing in the morning. Instinct by now to clasp her hands before he grabbed them, enveloping them with his own. Placing pressure on them to make it feel like he’d break her fingers if she didn't comply. When her bones creaked she knew not to fight him, that he was serious about this time where he spoke to his God. That he would stand directly behind her, a presence that was unavoidable with hot breath ghosting across the nape of her neck while he whispered prayers in her ear. Making sure she couldn't tune him out. By now she was learning bible verses off the top of her head just as well as he could recite them. She found how he had warped her way of thinking. That a line would pop into her head given a certain occasion. It frightened her.

Not like she could avoid it. Eden’s Gate was all around her. He’d place a book in her hand, the white bound book whose copies were floating around Hope County, circulating like the plague. She’d read aloud to him as he showered. Speaking loudly over the downpour of water that slammed into the porcelain tub. Rook would never look up. Couldn't stand how he wouldn't keep the curtain closed, that he'd always have his eyes on her. Smiling and nodding along his encouragement whenever she would pause. It was like he knew when to step out, limiting them to ten pages in the morning. They’d swap places. His hands wandering over her figure and helping her out of the nightgown he had chosen for her. Something sheer and see through that made her cringe whenever he looked her way.

He’d stand back for once, keeping his eyes forever roaming as she scrubbed down. Not taking the time to enjoy the sweet comfort the hot water would bring anyone else, she was all about efficiency now. Quick to get clean so she could toss on whatever clothes he placed in her hands. Usually something modest because god forbid his flock, or even his family, had lustful thoughts of his ‘wife.’ Rook couldn’t complain, knew that he would keep her locked up in their small bedroom with barred up windows, buck naked at her refusal to get dressed. Either that or he would drug her up, force bliss into her veins as he's done a few times before when they had a sermon to go to and she just had to be there apparently. The bliss would be enough for him to dress her properly. Leading her to the church like everything was okay, like she wanted him and his cult.

Joseph was, unsurprisingly, a busy man. Never in their small house for long in the mornings. He’d pull her from the shower, smelling of lavender and wearing soft clothes decorated with lace that irritated her skin. He never forced her to do the housework as he went wherever the hell he was needed that early. But what else was there to do? The house was one level and not too many rooms for her to explore. No technology for obvious reasons about the Seed family’s aversion towards the cloud and status updates. The library was small, old classics she’s only ever read in school years ago and never picked up after that. It held her interest for all of two hours before she did the things that only her parents expected of her when she was a child. Chores, cleaning and re-cleaning to ease the storm in her mind. It was a numbing task to do, something so simple that she could daydream, pretend she was anywhere else but on the floor, scrubbing between small cracks of the fridge when everything else was already spotless.

Joseph would pop in and out of the house. Lingering in doorways, urging her to acknowledge him. To greet her husband with a hug and kiss on the cheek. “This is new,” He’d tell her constantly. “I’ll give it time. I can be patient and wait for you to come around.” Rook knew he spoke the truth. That it was only a matter of time before he wore her down and Stockholm syndrome would kick in amongst her will to live. She’d give into the man who sat across from her eating dinner and speaking of his day with enthusiasm. Waving his forked hand around animatedly and smiling at her behind yellow tinted glasses.

She kept her face blank, pretended with each new morning that came that she wasn't leaning into the parting kiss he would lay to her temple as he cleaned the dishes. She would lie to them both as she said to him that she hated his barbaric ways of life. That when he forced her down on bended knee each night by the bed to pray that she only prayed for his and his family’s death. That someone would come along just as she did and he wouldn't be able to trap that person. She’d toss his words back at him when they got into an argument, though those were getting fewer and far in between. Rook would say that God worked in mysterious ways as he had told her, that his fate would come to fruition one day and she’d be free of him.

Joseph would give her that sympathetic pity filled smile as they slipped into bed together, blankets shrouding them along with the darkness that filled the room. He’d cradle her against his chest and mumble in her ear about all the ways she was fitting in so nicely. That she was already getting used to him, even if she didn't realize it. That she was smiling for him and casting sarcastic remarks his way, jesting like they were friends.

“So keep up that facade if it really makes you feel safe child. I’m here waiting, always. And once you feel you no longer need to hide behind made up fallacies then I’ll be here to keep you protected. But I see it in your eyes.”

“See what?” Rook got closer to him as she said it, trying to make out his features in the darkness. Could only really see the outline of his jaw and his bright contrasting eyes.

“Your undying love. Your devotion. Your wanton need for me. The fact that if the collapse fell upon us right this second then the first place I’d find you running to would be my arms.”

The next day she didn’t pray for his death.


	18. [Angel Rook pt 4] John/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re our angel. You’re not meant to be harmed or threatened. You are special and will help guide others into Eden’s Gate just as we are doing now.”

The last time she saw John he was gloating. Moving in step with Jacob as he hauled her along to their church after yanking her out of the dirty little revine she was stupid enough to think would work as a hiding spot. 

She thought the crazy in his eyes was from sheer excitement at finally having his hands on Eden’s Gate very own angel.

She was wrong. That she realized when he was only twenty feet away, lounging with his back pressed against a rough bark of a half-burnt tree in the middle of nowhere. Plane covered trench coat folded haphazardly in his lap. Hand lying limp by his side, easy and lax as a plume of smoke puffed out between thin lips.

His head was tipped back in utter bliss. Looking close to happy, maybe the news didn’t reach him that she was out of Jacob’s grasp. Either that or his men were the ones doing his dirty work. Scanning the skies diligently to bring her back to them.

Rook cursed her luck, bit down harshly to keep from spewing out a litany of curse words not meant for ears of the faithful such as John. 

To his left was the large body of water she had been in search for. She had walked miles until she figured she’d be safe enough to let her guard down. As fate would have it the first lake she had come across was occupied by a Seed.

Getting clean would be nice. As would swimming in what felt like forever. Having an encounter with John, who had been smoking ‘oregano’ for God only knows how long, would not be fun. Not in the slightest.

She remembers what fervor that John had sought her down the first time she ran from Joseph with newly sprouted wings. There was reverence in how he regarded her. He wouldn’t shoot her when she was a deputy wreaking havoc, so he wouldn’t shoot her with her gained status of angel. Not a title that stuck well with her, but one that she’d be more than happy to use if it meant washing off and feeling human again.

Her footsteps weren’t light exactly, and him being high as a kite helped a bit more when making her way towards the docks. Not bothering to pause at each whine and creak the wood gave. She stripped with little finesse, yanking at her grungy tank top until it tore right down the middle. And yep, that’s John, noise of confusion rising from his throat and eyes wide, swiveling on her as he sputtered and cough around the joint hanging off his bottom lip. He was more concerned with hiding his little baggie of green than he was of her grabbing the nearest stick and aiming right for his head.

Her pants came off next, belt clanking dully as her jeans pooled around her ankles. John had scrambled up onto his feet, brushing away the dirt clinging to him as he grabbed onto the hefty tree trunk he had been using to lean on.

With no shame she tossed off the rest of her clothes, panties and bra dangerously close to falling in the water when she threw it with little care.

“Are you gonna hurt me John?” There was bewilderment in his gaze, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. As if the 5-foot woman standing bare in front of him with wings popping out over her shoulders was just a side effect from whatever he was smoking.

He watched with wide eyes as she plopped down on the dock and eased herself in the water. Unlike him she didn’t have a cozy home to return to or spare clothes to toss on. She didn’t have protection like he did. She was getting clean and if he wanted to interfere with that he already would’ve.

“I’d never.” He straightened his posture. Pulling his coat around him when he shivered violently. “You’re our angel.” John was advancing on her steadily, no malice in his movements. Just easy steps that moved carefully on the dirty shore. There was almost a flicker of excitement in his whole vibe when he raked his eyes over her wings. “You’re not meant to be harmed or threatened. You are special and will help guide others into Eden’s Gate just as we are doing now.” He breathed out slow, squinting in the low light to make out the colors of her wings better when she put her back to him.

Those weren’t his words. Said in his voice, the tone and inflection familiar. But it was rehearsed. Very practiced. Listing off something he’s been told before.

It shouldn’t bother Rook so much, and yet...she was left angrier than she should’ve been knowing how Joseph already preached about her. It left her heart racing. The fact that he could be getting ready to tell his flock, because really who wouldn’t want an angel as Eden’s Gate spokesperson? Surely that would get all the nonbelievers to join.

“Did you want help?” He was already wadding in the water. Foregoing the need to discard his shoes. Just rolling up the sleeves of his blue button up and keeping his distance. Ten feet away, fingers dipped in the water and grasping at liquid that slipped between his digits. He created ripples, making waves that caused the water to rise slightly around Rook. Brushing at her hips and touching a dark bruise she had no memory of getting.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. Saw something in his eyes that might’ve been a trick of the light. Just a reflection of the water. But it was enough for her to pause. To draw her hands away from where they were gripping strongly on her shoulders in criss-cross formation and pivoting towards him. For a second the awe on his face was too much. It wasn’t something she didn’t deserve. Especially not from one of the Seeds.   

“Please Rook. Let me worship you.” And that made her shudder. Had her eyes flicker closed briefly. When she opened them back up John was so much closer. If she wanted she could reach out and pull him near. Just forget the fact that he may be high and loose. Judgment skewed and ready for her to use him. She could forget that he was a killer.

God help her but she did exactly that. She was the one who closed the gap between them. She let him reach over her shoulder to brush the tips of wings she still wasn’t used to having. He murmured an apology at seeing the torn bullet hole through her wing. He kept his hands away from that, though his eyes flickered back to it every few seconds. They’d dip down to some part of her body that was war-torn and then they’d bounce right back up. Constantly touching. Roaming hands that she wasn’t sure she could fend off.

Did she want to?

She could ruin this strange moment they had created in the water and she could run. Grab her clothes and tear through the woods.

Yet Rook stood stock still, held her breath as his head bent to kiss over her collarbone and ghosted over her nipple. Grabbing tight to her hips when she jumped.

“Shhh.” It was meant as a comfort, a way to loosen her muscles. It had some effect, John’s soft ministrations did enough for her to let him tip her back into the water in some form of impromptu baptism she wasn’t even sure she had signed up for.

One hand on her back, between her shoulder blades, hand splayed to touch both wings with the tips of his fingers. The other between her breasts, that one not as touchy-feely. And for that she was thankful. Even when he leaned her back and let her submerge beneath the water.

There was a fleeting moment of fear. Panic ringing clear in her mind that made her squirm in his grasp. He could drown her. Keep her under and drag her back to wherever he disappeared to when he wasn’t torturing poor souls.

But then he was guiding her back up. Supporting her weight when she stumbled, leaning more into his chest than she had any right to.

“My perfect angel. Now pure and born anew.” John whispered in the crown of her hair. Pressing one last kiss there before pulling back to hold her face in his hands. Thumbs brushing away stubborn droplets of water that clung to her skin. “I don’t know how my brothers and sister intend to treat you Rook, but if you ever need sanctuary than you shouldn’t look any further than me. My arms are open, you can find refuge next to me.”

 


	19. [Capture pt 2] John/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This won’t be painless, atonement never is, otherwise what’s the point?” He sighed deeply as if he regretted scarring her body the way he knew he had to. “It could be easy though.” John leaned down, bent over to press the side of his cheek onto her back. “Dear God please make this easy for both of us.”

John kept her close, led her around like she was little more than a puppy on a leash. He held onto the sleeve of the Eden’s Gate sweater he pushed into her arms only hours after she had been given to him and her feet hit the dirt surrounding his ranch. 

He grasped onto her tight, the same way she had tried to guide Joseph out of his church. A hand on her shoulder to keep her in check. Giving admonishing little jolts to stagger her steps whenever she paused for too long, eyes fixing on some spot on the horizon that he also would turn to look at. As if he could pick up on whatever imaginative thoughts were playing through her head. He had to wonder whether, in those moments of reprise, if she thought about what it would’ve been like if she hadn’t been found by his people. He considered it probably as much as she did. Whenever a burst of gunfire would echo through the valley, bouncing along hills and reaching her ears from where she sat in the open hanger for his plane with him nearby, she would perk up. Like that sound gave her energy, a driving spirit she wanted so desperately to conjure. And really that might be the case. It was the only time she would grow alert. Muscles tense and leg bouncing restlessly. 

John questioned the role she would’ve had out there living alongside the resistance that was still a small band of people who weren't doing much to combat the tactics he was using. Wondered if she would have made a good survivalist or even a fighter. If she would've laid on the sidelines going rogue or tried to make a break for it and get the fuck out of Hope County. Lord knows she would’ve made his life worse whatever she tried to do without him holding the reigns.

He cleared his throat for what must’ve been the eighth time to drag her attention back to the task he had given her.

“I know this isn’t the most engaging of jobs, but at least pretend like you’re doing what I asked of you.”

Rook blinked dumbly at him before tilting her gaze back to her hands, shifting her fingers around clumsily as she loaded magazines. A repetitive task she wasn't yet used to. She was a deputy, loading machine guns with the flick of a wrist wasn't in her job description. He bit his tongue, she'd learn, get much better with him to lead her hand and tell her which skills Eden's Gate needed of her. His eyes fluttered to the clock hanging precariously above a wooden door. If she was paying him any mind, she might notice how antsy he was. The rag he was using to clean his plane curled up in his fist, bouncing between his hands as if too hot to hold. His heavy sighs weren’t enough to make her bothered either, the gunshots still her main distraction. He’d simply bow his head down to rub away at some imaginary patch of dirt to bide his time for the day.

John dragged her away from the task she had abandoned for clutching at her worn jeans and cocking her head to the side to hear the shouts from afar. He moved slowly through his ranch with her at his front. Hand a constant presence to lead her through the halls. 

“Left, there. Right, no this door.”

With not much of a flourish, he gestured around to his office. The smallest room he had--probably smaller than one of the few bathrooms--tucked away in the corner of his ranch. The lines creased on his forehead had Rook shifting on her feet. Hands hanging limply in front of her. They stood like that is relative silence, with him far more accustomed to the explosions outside his home than she ever was. If he was a man of empathy, he might feel pity that she wasn’t used to such a thing. Though his mind was pivoted on getting this part of his day over with. His fingers tore through his hair, ruffling it until it stood at attention, coiling along the nape of his neck from the heat.

When Joseph did arrive, slipping inside almost silently, so silent that John wouldn't know with his head down, if not for the gentle murmur he gave Rook in greeting. 

He took up position in the corner of the room. Back pressing into the ornate bookcase John had filled with novels collecting dust. With arms crossed, Joseph waited patiently, not a 'hello' or 'good afternoon.' Not really needed when he arranged this a day earlier with John, whose voice shook from miles away despite his best effort. Joseph's eyes were calm as always, yet there was something else there when John stood, glancing over his shoulder. He paused in his movements, standing in the middle of the room and barely paying Rook any mind. Joseph looked so curious, more attentive than John could remember him in years. 

If there weren’t a third party in the mix, John would be more aware of the tugging in his heart and embrace Joseph. Hold him close and thank him and The Voice for knowing this woman would be the one to save their family.

But John had work to do, he had responsibilities that would keep that look in Joseph’s eyes.

With a deep breath, John tightened his hold on Rook and set to work. And just like that she was fighting, wriggling in his grasp; as most would do when someone decides to pin them down. Forcefully bend them at the waist until the wood of his desk cut into their skin. A meager amount of pain compared to the one about to come. 

“Shush now Deputy. Make this easy for both of us. Show me that you’re special.” 

Rook wasn’t sure what that meant, or even what he was looking for. Already she knew he valued how her reactions differed so significantly from those brought to worship by his brother’s feet. People showed fear or anger. Resistance was the operative word. She bit down on that. Put a tight clamp around any emotions that might make him tick. 

That got more difficult when he was hiking up her shirt to reveal the unblemished skin of her back, cool metal of a knife that came from seemingly nowhere now pressing flat against her spine. 

“This won’t be painless, atonement never is, otherwise what’s the point?” He sighed deeply as if he regretted scarring her body the way he knew he had to. “It could be easy though.” John leaned down, bent over to press the side of his cheek onto her back. “Dear God please make this easy for both of us.”

John straightened soon after before Joseph would think his intentions were covered in a sin he had atoned for when he was a young lawyer, hand pressed right below where he intended to cut. To her left side on her lower back. He traced the area with his eyes, mapping out how the words would look. Careful to make sure the sin he marked her with wouldn’t cross over the thin patch of skin covering her spine. He wouldn’t risk her dying on him if his hand happened to slip.

He shoved his hips forward, enough pressure to keep her still when he began carving into her. No doubt Joseph would trust his judgment, it really didn’t matter what John put. It was his decision, after all, he had a choice to make. 

He had his reasons for choosing what he did. There was a strange throbbing of his crossed out sin that pounded in tune to his erratic heart.

He knew that he’d need to find some reason for placing the crooked letters that spelt out ‘SLOTH’ on her body. Joseph would want to know why, even if he were wrong, he would still wonder what compelled John to look at the sheriff's deputy that happened into their life and see something slothful in her. 

And he would have to lie--to everyone, including himself--that he only wanted to mark her as his. Tracing out his initials would be risky, this was more personal, a shared secret she wasn't even conscious of. Something he would be aware of while everyone else nodded and smiled.

She was apart of his life now. It was only fitting that they shared something as intimate as sin. She was his, sent by the Lord. He felt it deep in his bones. It was a fresh slate, a time for John to build something whose foundation wasn’t riddled with sin. 

The bleeding words carved into her skin was the first step.


	20. [a/b/o pt 3] Jacob/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah, you ran didn’t you pup?” He thumbed at her cheek, a caring act that was more teasing than sympathetic. “Now what am I supposed to do with you? Such a needy thing." His smile was all teeth. Flashing bright at her when he felt her stiffen beneath his touch.

“Real cute dep.” He circled her. Looking down at her with nothing but pure disappointment in his eyes. “Thinking you had permission to just run off like that.” He shook his head. Shushing her a second later when she tried to rise to her own defense. A hand clapped over her mouth as an extra precaution. He was so close like that. Shoving her back against the far wall, arm a solid force on her neck, closing off her windpipe with little concern.

“I’d love to know where you got that stupid idea.”

She would too. If she had an answer for him she’d readily confess everything to him. All she had was the pleading look in her eyes that did little for the man who harboured no mercy.

“Does your heat make you that dull up there.” The pressure was released around her throat to knock on her head with his knuckles. Laughing as she winced. “I mean, I put you up here in my own personal space. Gave you food and blankets, made your heat a little more bearable right until the very end. And what did you go and do?”

He waited, head tipped to the side subtly. He hummed low in his throat, making her blink rapidly. He wanted an answer. Anything to explain why she ran in the middle of the day the way she did.

“I--I ran. I tried to leave.” It was more complicated than that though. Premeditated. Not a spur of the moment thing caused by her inner beast seaking out a mate like a dog while Jacob was out. She waited. Poised by the side of the door, so when Jacob came inside and turned to the right to flick on the light switch she’d be pressed to the left side. Shoulder muscles aching and everything tense. Waiting for that small window of time where she could just slip by him.

To be fair, she had made it out of his office. She had flung open doors and shoved the few of his men allowed to wonder that high up in the building right to the floor. She had even found the stairs. The brief surprise is what fucked her up. The elation rised in her like she had won. Jacob knocked that out of her real fast. Body slammed her hard enough to make her tumble down the stairs that seemed to go on forever when you’ve been tossed head over heels until you’re body met the cold tile of solid ground.

It was stupid, he pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one.

“Yeah, you ran didn’t you pup?” He thumbed at her cheek, a caring act that was more teasing than sympathetic. “Now what am I supposed to do with you? Such a needy thing. Obviously you want something more than this little domestic scene I’ve got. S’okay, I can figure out something to occupy you until your heat wears down.” His smile was all teeth. Flashing bright at her when he felt her stiffen beneath his touch. “Gotta find a job that’ll burn all that energy right outta you.” He laughed low in their shared space when she pressed closer to him, face shoving in his broad chest and whine tearing from her throat in a practices movements of muscles. A show of submission reserved for mates, not whatever the fuck he had forced her into. 

“Too late for that honey, if you’re really that bored of me than I’ve got no problem showing you how worse it can be. How I make other recruits face their heats when it gets to be too much.” 

*****

Jacob had been bordering on kind when she struggled through her first heat in years. He let her whine into the column of his throat whenever he entered his office throughput the day. He put up with how she climbed him like a damn tree when he collapsed back in his office chair to get work done and she was straddling him. Grinding on him in an attempt to get him to break and just fuck her. 

She was more of a nuisance than anything, he surprised her with how much he was willing to deal with it. Then again he wasn’t being selfless. With her opting for tossing off her clothes and giving off a sweet smell. She had it good.

That’s what this lesson was.

It was him dragging her outside in front of all his men, with staring curious eyes of prisoners seeing a break in the monotony of their lives. She was their entertainment and a lesson wrapped all in one. 

“Wanna run pup, go for it.” 

He shoved her forward. Made her stumble and trip near a bundle of cages filled with snarling Judges. Before she could leap back Jacob was kneeling on the floor with her. Hand on the nape of her neck to keep her rooted to the spot. “We’re gonna get that energy outta ya. Didn’t realize how much you were itching for some stimulation.” The word had certain connotations. And fuck him because he had to know that. 

“Let’s see how far you can run sweetheart.” He was up and off her. Left her on hands and knees to gaze back at the beasts with dripping maws that made her tremble. Their eyes were a glowing yellow, such a stark contrast to how the wolves started. Savage animals of their own accord with a honed set of skills suited for Eden’s Gate purposes. She had every reason to be scared.

“I’d get going if I were you dep. Hate to see you get torn to a thousand pieces. It’d be quite the mess to clean up on my part.” He didn’t need to tell her twice. That was enough permission for her to scramble on her feet. Tripping on imaginary pebbles before she was steadily sprinting in the opposite direction. Bending around the corners of cages and ignoring the way the Peggies jeered at her with shouts of ‘Sinner!’ on their lips.

“Go Little Lamb, show me you’re worth keeping.”

Jacob’s last call which could be disguised as a way of saying good luck if she was deaf in one ear, was quickly drowned out by the sound of a cage clanging open and the beating of paws on the ground. She’s gotten chased down by his animals before, if you were in the mountains it was a given. But she had a gun then and countless trees to climb or ATVs to jump onto if things got bad.

Now all she had was the twisting courtyard littered with Peggies and cages filled with people she didn’t have the time to have sympathy for when the Judges were right at her heels. She could smell her own fear. Swelling wide in the air and probably reaching Jacob. The smell usually permeated the air whenever Jacob was near, but her scent screamed above the rest. An unimaginable terror of getting ripped apart filled her mind. She’s seen the chaos the Judges make.

By the time she got to the end of the compound, clearly open gate in sight, almost too good to be true, like a mirage in a desert, she was ready to be done with this whole thing. To either flop to the ground in defeat and let the wolves rip out her throat or run into the woods up ahead. Try her best to keep running until she was somewhere safe and had a gun on her person to shoot Jacob’s damn Judges dead.

Jacob was the one to ultimately stop her. He grabbed her around the waist, stepping out from a shadowy corner she didn’t have any time to pay attention to. The sudden stop in her momentum with Jacobs solid arm stretched across her torso knocked the breath out of her. It had Rook leaning all her weight into the soldier when her knees gave out.

She didn’t notice she was crying until jacob was holding her up right, cradling her jaw and swiping at the tears with a rough thumb that made her wince. “Shh pup. I’ve got ya. And you did so well.” With hands braced on her shoulders he twisted her around, head craning to check out the expanse of skin she had on display before he let out a light whistle. “Not a single scratch on you huh?”

There was the beginning of a smile forming, much like that first time Jacob had strapped her in a chair just to wind up his music box. It was a curious thing that almost looked genuine. He opened his mouth to speak, pulling her up on her tiptoes when she swayed slightly. 

“Brother.” The cool cadence of a voice so recognizable all across Hope County made Rook tense all over again. Adrenaline spitting into her veins and amping her up for a fight. 

Over Jacob’s shoulder she could barely make out the start of bright yellows aviators framing too blue eyes. Black vest stretching over his body, the same kind he had worn at her baptism.

Jacob turned on his heel. Hand on her neck, gripping tight once before he walked towards his brother. A warning, a silent command conveyed through a threat.

“Joseph. You didn’t tell me you were coming up north. I…” He glanced around furtively. “I wasn’t expecting you.” Joseph tipped their heads together in lieu of an answer. Eyes shifting over to where Rook stood. Not meeting his gaze and trading it for the dusty ground. Very much naked with scuffed palms. 

“Deputy Rook.” Joseph held onto Jacob by his sleeve. Tugging him until they stood in front of Rook. “You look tired child. I trust my brother has been treating you well.” He reached out, using his finger to tip her head up. 

She swallowed around a dry throat. She may sleep in Jacob’s office but the amount of food or drink she got didn’t change. Who knew when the last time she had water was? “Yeah.” No way was she bad mouthing a man who put her through a death run.

“Mhm.” He found Jacob’s eyes, something there that she registered as anger. “What’s is with the Judges?” He gave a nod down to the floor, about ten feet away from where they stood. “Training?”

“Something like that.” Was Jacob’s rough response. He was defensive, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back on his heels. “She’s fine Joseph, nothing to worry about.” 

“I asked you to see fit that her heat wasn’t made uncomfortable. The conditions you put her in--”

“Are a lot better than most. She’s lucky.”

“She’s special. An omen sent by God. Must I take her away Jacob. Perhaps she’d find better treatment in the west or east.”

Jacob huffed out a breath through pursed lips. Moving to wrangle Rook closer to his side. Looping an arm across her shoulders. “You suggesting that John or Faith would be better.”

“I don’t want to doubt you brother. You’re strong, you can handle her. Tamper her wrath.” Joseph was standing closer to her. A hand on her jaw, brushing at her cheek almost lovingly. “Would you benefit from me staying here a bit longer.”

“I think that’d be more of an interference.”

Joseph sighed, a smile on his lips. His scent swelled around them. An angry mixture she’s never smelt before from him. It was tangy, making her cringe and curl in on herself. “This is only to help you brother. I’m not the enemy.”

Jacob’s face said it all. No, he wasn’t believing Joseph’s bullshit cover story for a second.


	21. [Forced Marriage pt 2] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We could make something beautiful.” At that she couldn’t help but snort. Yeah, they could bring a child into this world whose first word was ‘yes’ and who would grow up wielding a rifle. For their first birthday they’d get a fucking thigh holster similar to the one's Joseph and Jacob favored.
> 
> “Something funny about that idea darling?” His words were accompanied by him squeezing tight around her midsection. Head dropping down to nip at her neck like that would set her back in line. “We have everything my parents did not. This could work.”

“I can just imagine you swelling wide with my child. Won’t that be wonderful Rook?”

He was talking crazy. Droning on and on and never shutting up. She couldn’t stand his passive aggressiveness that flourished when his patience wore thin and he truly believed that what he was speaking was law. Not that she’d ever say that.

She simply paused her movements, leaning back into the solid mass Joseph made. Sighing to reign in her anger when his hands shifted down to her stomach, hands dripping with water as his naked body pressed completely against her. As if he was considering fucking her right where they stood in the shower.

“We could make something beautiful.” At that she couldn’t help but snort. Yeah, they could bring a child into this world whose first word was ‘yes’ and who would grow up wielding a rifle. For their first birthday they’d get a fucking thigh holster similar to the one's Joseph and Jacob favored.

“Something funny about that idea darling?” His words were accompanied by him squeezing tight around her midsection. Head dropping down to nip at her neck like that would set her back in line. “We have everything my parents did not. This could work.” He was pulling away. Holding onto the nape of her neck and yanking her out with him. Making her slam into his side as he snatched a towel and shoved it into her arms. 

His features were tight. Not out of anxiety, but anger. She learned real quick how intense Joseph could be. That he wouldn’t yell, god forbid if he ever found a reason to, but his serenity was almost worse.

Moments like this reminded her of that little fact. Where he would stand off to the side, watching her with sharp, scrutinizing eyes.

“Is it your pride that keeps you from laying with me?” He questioned a few days later. Those same eyes turned on her and locking her in place from where she sat across from him eating breakfast. “Can you still not accept that this is how things must be? That this is how God had planned everything right from the beginning.” His fork clanked on the plate dully, making her wince and shrink in on herself. “I was starting to think you were finally getting used to this.”

Rook blinked back at him. Searching his face curiously and finding mania she was sure wasn’t there a few weeks ago.

“We can’t wait forever Rook.” He rose from his seat, food barely touched. Anxiety has been curling in his stomach for days, making his headaches more prevalent and his daily tasks seem more like a chore. He crossed over to press a kiss to her temple. Lingering as he breathed against her skin. Cupping her cheeks and turning her head to press their foreheads together. “This will be beneficial to the both of us. You’ll see.”

Joseph was layers upon layers of batshit crazy. That was what struck her with sudden realization alongside the mingled fear. Fear because he was so much stronger than he looked and he was easily digging blunt nails in her upper arms and dragging her from their bed in the night when she shoved him away. He had been yanking her nightgown up and nope, she knew where that was going.

But now he had something in his eyes that was so fierce it was like this man wasn’t The Father anymore. Just...Joseph. A simple man no different than anyone else. The one shoved into a life of pain and spit out by the system uncared for and so, so lost.

He was making her trip and stumble with how fast he was moving, out of their bedroom and into the long hallways that were almost too narrow for the two of them to be side by side. Then he was flicking on lights that were too bright in the darkness of midnight. The window in the living room off to the side of the kitchen was shoved open with one arm shooting out roughly. He didn’t give her time to scramble away, he only shoved her forward. Slotting himself right behind her as her waist dug into the window sill as he let her hang halfway out.

There wasn’t a danger of falling. It was only a one-story house, and his grip was far too tight--now with one hand wrapped snugly around her throat--to make her fall.

“Shall I show you what awaits out there if you were to leave me and take our child with? Do you forget how awful the world is? I won’t have society ruin my child!” He jostled her, making her see stars with how breathless she was. “You can’t run from this Rook. God will not let you.”

And then he was pushing into her. Rucking up her flimsy nightgown above her hips and go  _ ininin _ until she was crying out from the lack of preparation and the absence of consideration.

“You cannot remain blind when the world is falling to ruins around us.” His voice didn’t waver, there was no sign that he was fucking her ruthlessly against the wall with her upper body hanging out of the window.

His pace was fast, slamming right back in when he pulled out fully. Like he was trying to jam in further than her body allowed. It wasn’t the gentle rolls of his hips that she expected from a man so holy. But then again, he truly believed their salvation was on the line.

Rook’s hands gripped onto the frame, trying to keep the amount of bruises she was bound to get down to a minimum. Joseph seemed intent on other ideas. Because he was quick to grab at her arms and screw them around her back. Keeping her in his control as he rutted into her like a dog in heat, simply chasing his end to meet some messed up fallacy in his head.

“You can’t tell me this is wrong, or that this isn’t how it’s meant to be Rook. Not when God is watching us in this moment and allowing fate to play out before Him.” Joseph’s hips stuttered slightly as he widened his stance. Groaning under his breath and kissing in the middle of her back.

“Oh yeah? Well, you can’t tell me that these actions are endorsed by God. Sounds like hubris to me,  _ Father _ .” There was that anger that not a single one of the Seeds could tame. It rushed out of her before she could stop it, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Joseph, it never did.

“Quell that feeling. Hold it down because there is no room for such notions in the foundation we are building, not with a child on the way.” He didn’t rise to the bait. Wouldn’t snap at her like she had just done to him. As mad as he was in the past few days he wouldn’t indulge in that particular sin when creating their child.

He was almost silent when he finished. Lying over her completely, panting sharp breaths in the shell of her ear. When he did pull back it wasnt enough for her to get up, he left the smallest of spaces to reach his hand around between her folds. With a few quick jerks of his wrist he had her writhing under him. Suddenly out of breath as he pulled her away from the window and into his arms.

Joseph rocked them back and forth. Holding her so her head was pressed into his chest. “You understand, don’t you Rook? This is the beginning of the end, and I’d be remiss If I squandered this opportunity. I won’t let anyone stop me from fulfilling God’s plan.” He leaned down to brush a strand of hair away from her face. “Not even you darling, and if I can’t go around you then you leave me no choice but to go through you.”

 


	22. [Bunker au pt 1] Polyseed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: After the bombs drop and the world finally has come to an end there's still one unresolved problem...Who gets the deputy?

Through her whole ordeal in Hope County she always got the impression that she was more of a pawn to the Seeds than a worthy opponent. She was a bargaining chip, something to be held up high on a golden pedestal bathed in light if acquired.

Like she said, that was just an impression. A faint idea as to what the Seeds were thinking as she ran around from place to place, crossing over region borders destroying whatever got in her way like she was born to.

Now though, oh man, now there was no question about it. With the three men squabbling, John doing most of the whining, she was sure they never had a serious talk about where her role was beside them. That this was a topic discussed more in passing as one would approach a sore subject. Then again that might’ve been because no one knew when the collapse was coming—not that the people of Eden’s Gate doubted it—or if she was going to be alive when the time came at all, or that they’d get lucky enough to have her stuck in the same tiny sardine can of a bunker with them. That was just her luck wasn’t it? The decision was up in the air, being tossed around about who the fuck actually got to have her. Or at least who got her first because—surprise surprise! John wouldn’t take no for an answer. He was taking his turn one way or another, there was no outright denial when it came to him.

He sat on a deflated mattress stained with something curiously close to blood, red in the face from anger. Other than that his body language was almost calm. Compared to Jacob and Joseph...she might say he was off his game. Not his usual self that she expected, full of bravado and a dramatic air that he had grown known for. Not jesting back with the eldest as brothers should and instead answering with snide remarks that made her head spin.

An hour. They had been arguing for an hour. If God had any mercy he would strike her dead to escape their bickering.

“Does it matter that much John?” Coming from Joseph, so ready to give up something for his brothers. He could wait for her, he could be patient. He’s proved that already in having so much faith in the collapse. Following out a divine plan that was whispered in his ear back home in Georgia. “What difference does it make if you’re first or last? So long as your day comes to treat Rook the way He intended.”

“It matters,” was the curt reply he got in return before John was spinning back on Jacob. Eyebrow cocked as he missed the last words that fell from the soldier’s lips. “Excuse me?”

“I said,” Jacob leaned back against the wall, arms over his chest, the epitome of not giving a single fuck, “I’ve got a good solution, a fair one at that.”

“I’m listening.” And he was. Leaning forward from his position on the bed. Eyes flicking between Jacob and Rook like he could already taste her. Like he could already envision himself collecting what he so deserved.

“Tallest gets first dibs, obviously--” added with a scoff for comedic effect. Rook winced, Maybe not the time Jacob.

“Joseph!” But Joseph wasn’t intervening for once in what seemed like what would’ve been a common occurrence if not for the subject. He was sitting Indian style beside Rook. Legs neatly crossed as he leaned his head on an open palm. Taking the joke—what Rook hoped was a joke—better than John was.

Joseph puffed out a breath of air before closing his eyes. “He was kidding.”

“Was I?” Jacob tipped his head to the side in mock consideration before crossing the cement floor with ease and confidence. For good reason too, he was larger than John, than all of them actually. If anyone wanted to stop him there’d be a high chance it wouldn't affect Jacob’s path. Which happened to be right for Rook. “How ‘bout we let the rookie decide.” She winced at his words, refused to meet his gaze. Ringing through her head like wind chimes; rookie, not Rook. A title she wasn’t so sure she merited anymore.

“Hm, pup? Wanna add to this conversation or were you planning on being a passive observer.”

Surprisingly no one jumped to her aid. John’s eyes were wide with rapt attention, looking like he was about to jump off the side of the bed to hear her words. Joseph wasn’t doing shit, pulling her tight to his side, rubbing a coaxing hand up and down her shoulder as if that would ease the words right out of her.

She was thrown out in the limelight so suddenly. Pushed into the wolves gaping maws. And now they expected her to choose? Yeah, like she had a choice in the matter.

“Flip a coin for all I care.” Rook huffed. Shoulders sagging, flinching a second later, tensing right back up when John moved in a flurry of blue and black to flank her unoccupied side.

“You don’t get to say that. You can’t just roll your eyes and act like this isn’t an important decision.” She bit her tongue. Holding back the tart replies that, yes, despite whatever fallacies he had in his mind, she could indeed act like this wasn’t important. Because either way she was drawing the short stick.

“It’s so easy, all you need to do--”

“If you tell me to ‘say yes’ I will kick you.” Already she was leaning more into Joseph, falling back on her ass so she could lift a foot part way off the ground. Heel resting in the soft skin of his stomach and shoving just enough to tip him back to land on his rear.

“Stop acting like a child!” John moved quick. Quick enough to yank her to her feet and manage to avoid Joseph who gave a chastising yell of his name along with grasping hands that reached for her. John shook her like a ragdoll. Held tight to her shoulders and got too close to her face for comfort.

“By the end of the night you will decide. There is no more waiting, the collapse is upon us and I won’t have you ruining all we built by refusing to cooperate.” He shoved her back. Right into the arms of Joseph who didn’t hesitate to cradle her to his chest as he stroked down her spine, making soft shushing noise like she was a startled animal and not just another victim of John’s wrath.

Jacob watched his brother storm out of their confined space to an adjacent room--just as small. There was a smile tilting his lips up. Still so amused despite the outburst he witnessed. “So who gets her Johnny?” Called after him right when John slammed a door with a snarl.

His muffled voice reached them a few seconds later. “Don’t care! So long as that vile woman stays away from me until she learns to behave!”


	23. [Omegaverse pt 1] Polyseed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: That scent, Joseph’s scent, lingered on her. Made itself at home right inside her nose all the way back to the station. It was homey. Like worn books and leather. A tinge of something sweet that made her want to dominate. Called upon her to fulfill the purpose of a proper alpha.

Rook wasn’t ignorant, no, she would never admit to that, she’d like to call it denial. Or maybe disbelief, just pure and utter disbelief that through her time in Hope County as a junior deputy working too many hours and taking all the late night shifts no one else wanted, that she’d stumble across a group of omegas she couldn't tame. Who followed after her like a pack of dogs waiting for a treat. Said pack, because they truly were working together to gain her favor, who were courting her in a way she hadn’t thought any old omega would be able to. She just couldn’t wrap her head around it all.

Hearing about the congregation down the road, run by someone by the name of Joseph Seed, it was starting to get old how that name was beginning to crop up everywhere. She rolled her eyes everytime she got a call to go down there. They were harmless enough. Maybe stuck in the olden days and giving off some vibes that were a little too nice, too normal with picturesque ideals. And niceness was suspicious nowadays. That’s the first thing she said when her and her shiny police cruiser was escorted through large gates that swung open silently and she stood before Joseph. All smiles and apologies and trying to keep her cheeks in check before they glowed red from embarrassment.

Because the last thing she needed was to get on a preacher’s bad side. That wouldn’t paint the police department in a good light. Besides, it was a little more selfish than that. Said preacher being a quaint omega--really charming wasn’t the word, quaint worked just fine. He was demure, calm, radiating this aura that had her seeing stars when she was able to catch his scent. It wasn’t hidden, not in the slightest. Almost like he was proud of such a powerful aroma that had a presence of its own. No wonder he was leading the masses.

Rook hid the snarl that rose up in her throat with practiced ease. Coughing around the growl as her throat constricted in protest.  _Control Rook, don’t tackle the man._ She was already on thin ice, alphas in positions of power, with a gun on their belt no less, some people were already weary of that. No reason to make their fears come true. Not when his flock had been more than welcoming.

She did sway slightly, closed her eyes on the inhale as she walked forward. When he saw her swoon at the onslaught of smell he at least had the decency to look sorry. Kind enough to not come closer in the enclosed space of his church. “We don’t use suppressors here, we like to keep things natural. No drugs.” Such a subtle voice, soft and lilting. Yeah, he fit the script just as she imagined. The kind of omegas that were written in biology textbooks, it could’ve been laughable if her inner alpha wasn’t straining on her leash.

“Yeah. Mhm.” Past the point of being professional, not when she knew he was probably able to smell the faint highlights of her scent barely seeping through the drugs she was definitely using. His flock might feel safe in their walled off island, but she didn’t need to let every drunken idiot she arrested at the bar know how unavailable she was. “I get it. Not a crime though, that’s certain. This whole thing was a misunderstanding, Sir.” Rook cringed, rolling her shoulders back uncomfortably. Would Father have been the proper title for a preacher?

“Joseph,” He corrected, this time getting near. Blissfully unaware of the slick coating her thighs because her heat must’ve been too close for her to be so near all the people apart of Joseph’s flock. She took his hand in a shake and excused herself with words coated with something she prayed he didn't see as hostile and dripping with a want she couldn't control. Laughing and shaking her head a little too sporadically when he offered to see her out. A rushed tongue and rambling sentences before she disappeared out the doors.

That scent,  _Joseph’s scent,_ lingered on her. Made itself at home right inside her nose all the way back to the station. It was homey. Like worn books and leather. A tinge of something sweet that made her want to dominate. Called upon her to fulfill the purpose of a proper alpha.

Weeks went by and talked had died down just enough about Joseph and his group of fanatics for Rook to keep her head on straight and not go mad. It was refreshing to say the truth. Quiet too. Rook liked quiet. Not that it ever lasted long, being on your toes was a part of the job. Which is how Rook found herself juggling a bagel in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee as she managed the steering wheel on the way to some address she didn’t even know people lived at.

When she got there...God she didn’t even have to guess that these people were apart of Joseph’s congregation. Eden’s Gate with their need to not use any type of suppressants, it was fucking torture. The smell alone made staying in the car a tempting offer. She didn't think she would have if it didn't look like someone was going to end up with a black eye or bloody nose. All men and all save for one looking ready to kill despite the lack of any feasible weapons. Always quick to assess a situation that looked too much like a domestic dispute.

Rook was swift to intervene. Reaching out at the nearest man who was standing off to the side with a look of fear on his face, but his body language, his eyes, even his scent: He was pissed. Wrangling in his anger and playing up the weak omega card real well when the other participants were alphas.

_Smart boy._

The growl that came from her throat drew his attention when her hands on his shoulders failed to do so. And for an instant that fear was gone, replaced by curiosity and a swell of his scent that read nothing but pure, unadulterated interest. Not want, simple curiosity. God she shouldn't have to remind herself that.

She was like a fucking dog. Body aching just by being near someone who smelled so good. Someone who she could envision whining so pretty for her given the right incentive. In fact, he was doing a damn good job. Baring his throat for her subtly when he jumped right into an explanation before she had time to ask any questions. It seemed like he’s been through this before, did this type of song and dance enough times that he looked at ease when speaking to her. Throwing in the right words to make him and his friend seem like the victims.

His hands were on her, leaning into the touch she had on his shoulders. He was gripping onto her arms, squeezing tight and putting the right amount of whine in his voice that she almost felt sorry for him. Like he hadn’t been seconds away from pouncing on a couple of men who were angry about….she was barely listening to him. So honed in on the scent he was pushing her way--which was definitely done on purpose--that she had only caught some snippets of the conversation. Some land dispute, payment terms not met on time.

Something way out of her pay grade. Her problem nonetheless as Hope County’s finest.  

“Did anyone get hurt?”

His eyes bulged, “Officer I was scared. I thought they were gonna--”

“He’s a lying sack of shit!” She ignored that. Forcing herself not to look at the two men behind her being held off by whoever this stranger had brought with him to defend his case. The words had the intended effect though. The man in front of her whimpered. Pushing into her side way more than what was considered respectable. “I can take both of you down to the precinct, get a statement, work all this out in a more civil way.”

And that’s where she was left. With a man she could now identify as John Seed from Eden’s Gate, shaking apart in a old worn seat she pushed his way. Shoving his sweet fragrance her way like they were mates and that could break her. Everytime his head tipped back too far she would have to lean back in her seat, ignore the way her stomach clenched and how she wanted to pin him down and--

“Maybe we could call my brother, deputy Rook? He’s so much better at dealing with these things. Would that be okay?”

It would. It’d be so okay if she had someone in front of her not about to break down. She made the call as John listed off numbers in a soft voice shared between them. A hand on her shoulder because he couldn’t be normal and sit across from her. He had to shift his chair to her side and lean in closer.

Twenty minutes later and she regretted calling his brother. Hadn’t gotten Joseph’s last name and didn’t think the two omegas were in any way related. She had to be the one going over paperwork with the two people quickly becoming the most hated in the entire county standing in front of her. One far more needier than the other. But both sweet, endearing, placed in their natural roles that checked every single box.

It became natural for her to take the calls that related to Eden’s Gate. Whenever a complaint was made about ‘those crazy preaching types,’ Whitehorse sent her off with a nod of good luck. She couldn't say she minded too much, most of the problems she had to deal with consisted of calming down crowds that didn’t much care for the sudden rush of people flooding into Hope County every day, popping out of the woodwork so often that Rook couldn't remember half the people enclosed in the space the Seeds had bought.

The first time she was able to dodge seeing either Seed brother. The second she was just as lucky. Had stayed a while longer until her conscience was eased and she could shake the hands of grateful congregants. She left quick after that when she recognized John’s booming voice from across the yard. Around the same time she said good night to a kind old man she was surprised to learn had trekked as far as Georgia as he claimed.

She’d keep her thought to herself that Joseph very well may be insane for putting so many through that, including his own blood.

The third time, bordering on second week of dealing with paranoid bullshit about Eden’s Gate, she didn’t have to do much. The strangely aggressive man already at the gate was clear indication of that, making her job easy. The guy could handle his own. It made her nerves light with pleasure she couldn't explain. Color her impressed.

His introduction was short. Curt. Given in an offhand manner when their eyes locked with her still safely tucked away in her squad car. He appeared more annoyed than anything. Body tensing again, so ready to snap at her upon seeing her green Hope County issued uniform.

“Back home, where Joseph began preaching, we had a lot of cops on our case.” He--Jacob--gave in way of explanation. Staying firmly rooted in his spot right outside the gates (And maybe she was imagining it but they looked taller, more menacing), not at all making any moves to lead her inside. “Guess it’s a nice change to see we’ve got the sheriff's department on our side deputy…” He leaned down, as tall as he was, practically kneeling to grab at her name plate. “Rook.” And with him that close that’s when she caught it. Got a subtle hint of his scent that let her know that this one, oh, this one was different.

An omega fuming with a type of rage she hasn’t seen in such a timid breed in a long time. She bet he had his moments. Times where he could mewl just as pretty as any other omega. But tonight, when he needed to protect his people, yeah he could throw them around. But she’d love to be the woman to make this man heel. To have him submit to her sharp growls and guiding hands.

Rook sucked in deep when he leaned away, nose scrunching up as he turned away from her. He probably smelt her, took in the way her scent fumed out just a little bit. Suppressors not doing much so close to her heat. Only serving to make her look like a fool. Because no doubt he could smell the way her scent had a slight twinge of something different. Drugs so clear in her system that her body was trying to flush clean.

“If I see you around again deputy,” He drew her attention easy as pie, so simple with his baritone rusty voice, scratching on each syllable. “Hope it’s cause you’re fighting with us. Not against us.” That sounded too close of a threat for her to let go. So she just laughed. Jutted her hip out with a hand dropping to her waist, drawing attention to her gun. Because he seemed like the type of man who’d be into that sorta thing.

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem. You’ve got nothing to worry about Jacob…”

“Seed.” He tugged at his jacket. Making her eyes flick down to his breast pocket where his name was helpfully embroidered.  _J. Seed._ If she wasnt so enraptured with his face and the image of such a big man under her...she might’ve known. She might’ve avoided this mess and never stepped out of her cruiser because nope, she wasn’t flirting. Was not suddenly thinking about all three brothers because she was a greedy insatiable alpha not at all prepared for her heat and dreading the thought of spending it all alone.

She groaned under her breath, an angry snarl she wasn’t sure Jacob heard or not because he was already walking away and she was speeding over to her car. Practically throwing herself behind the wheel and speeding off as if she was the one who committed a crime.

She wasn’t doing this. Not a chance in hell was she going near that place again. Rook didn’t care if she lost her job. She was staying far away from the Seeds. Or they’d be the death of her.


	24. [Bunker au pt 2] PolySeed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The evidence is right here.” Jacob dropped a hand to his belt. Tugging on it lightly, teasing the idea.

“He must be compensating for something, right dep?”

Absolutely not. She wasn’t involved in this. Wrong time, wrong place, chained up to the metal post of a bed and nowhere to go when Jacob sauntered in with John quick to follow, snapping at his heels like an over excited pomeranian. 

It was hard not to listen when the subject matter was so...childish. An awful mixture of crude and vulgar to the point where she was tempted to call out to Joseph from wherever he was in the twisting hallways. Though she had a feeling John wouldn’t hesitate placing a firm hand over her mouth if her next words had nothing to do with the question he just asked her.

“You’re gonna trust her judgement?” That one stung a little. Made her cringe from where she sat, slowly curling in on herself to avoid getting stuck in the middle of a brotherly dispute. Jacob could be cruel, that was nothing new.

John flashed a smile. Shrugging with hands on his hips, eyes flicking to her to give her a poor excuse of a wink. “I am.”

“Why? The evidence is right here.”

No. He wasn’t…

Jacob dropped a hand to his belt. Tugging on it lightly, teasing the idea. “Killing two birds with one stone.” He joked. Fingering the clasp before popping it open. “Showing you how utterly wrong you are, you fucking idiot. And to help Rook make a fair choice.”

She let her eyes slam shut. What the fuck was wrong with this family? They were more screwed up than she thought, seeing as it was apparently normal for them to not only squabble about dick size, but for Jacob to strip down just to prove a point. She didn’t have any siblings, but this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. That she was sure of. 

“Maybe I shouldn't be here for this?”

John gawked at her, rolling his eyes for good measure before walking over to her to fall down on his knees. He grabbed her chin when she turned away, pushed his thumbs into her eyes when they refused to meet his. “You need this.” His head snapped up to Jacob when the dull clink of his belt indicated he threw it carelessly to the floor. “You need to make a choice.” He shrugged lightly when he stood, “And maybe you’re the kind of person where size matters. We’re trying to help.” Such innocent words really lost their effect when the scene was framed with Jacob, already tugging down his zipper.

He paused in his movements, hooking his thumbs through the now absent belt loops. “Exactly how is she supposed to choose when she doesn't have anything to compare it to?” Jacob laughed as he neared John, circling like the wolf he was. “Or are you ashamed? You got something to hide Johnny? After all, you've got a huge ranch, an assortment of planes--” He stopped, cut short with John’s impatient huff of anger and sudden burst of energy directed at his own belt.

“I am lacking in a few things, but down there. That isn’t one of them.” John snarled, shoving his own pants down until they pooled around his ankles.

Jacob chucked, nodding towards where she sat on the floor. “Don’t show me, show her. She’s the one you’re looking to fuck.”

“I don’t wanna see anyone’s cocks for fucksakes!” She screamed it, knocking her foot into the bedpost hard enough to make the entire bed rattle. 

Her cheeks were flushed when Joseph ran in. Hands framing the doorframe, eyes wide with absolute horror etched on his face. And that was just hearing her words. Upon seeing Jacob with his zipper undone, the white of his underwear peeking out (with a noticeable bulge she had to admit), and John’s pants gone--she swore he almost fainted.

He probably wished he did to escape whatever encounter he interrupted.

Joseph blinked. Kept quiet as if waiting for someone to open up and explain what the hell was going on. Several beats of silence went by before his eyes landed on her. She shook her head subtly. No. This wasn’t her fight. “I...What?” He cleared his throat. “What is happening? John why--” there was a deep sigh that reverberated through the room. “Can you please make yourself decent?” 

John didn’t hesitate. Scrambled so quickly to grab at his jeans and pull them up his thighs that he almost fell over. Joseph had crossed the floor at that time with a bowed head and hands crossed behind his back. He paused before he bent over to pick up the Eden’s Gate belt usually resting on a certain Baptist’s hips. He turned it over in his hands before passing it to John.

“What? You’re not gonna yell at him?” A nod towards Jacob who was already fixing himself. Zipper snapped up and belt being fed through the holes.

Joseph’s jaw tensed, she swore he almost rolled his eyes. “I’m getting there.” Whispered as he placed a hand on John’s shoulder. “Leave John.”

There was practically a puff of dust with how fast John left. Hightailing it out there before Joseph could say anything else.

“Why do you test him Jacob?” Joseph knelt down next to Rook, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I have a hunch that you started this....somehow, I don’t really want to know how it got so out of control. But you know he’d rise to the bait you set.”

“He’s my brother--”

“That’s not an excuse for him to strip down and show Rook--” Joseph cut himself off. Grunting in a rare show of anger. “Jacob, go. Go somewhere else for right now.” 

Jacob didn’t make a show of it, just shrugged like he couldn’t see what the big deal was. And suddenly there was the hint of a smile on his lips as he met Rook’s eyes and she didn’t like the look he had on his face. “That’s your plan Joseph? Kick me and John out to show her your own cock as incentive? To entice her, persuade her?” Jacob disappeared out of the room before Joseph could protest. 

But seeing how his cheeks turned from a light pink to a bright red, to see how his mouth opened and closed searching for the right words...It almost made that whole ordeal worth it.


	25. [Forced Marriage pt 3] Joseph/Rook

Joseph’s sermons were the worst part of it all. 

She couldn’t avoid them, even if she fought tooth and nail with him and planted her body firmly down in the bed with no intentions of moving that day. He’d fight with her, he had no problem with that. Morals seemed to go right out the window, making her wonder what everyone would think about The Father if they could see him resort to getting physical with her if only to drag her along to listen to him preaching. 

Sometimes he found it easy to treat her like an unruly child not wanting to go to school, he’d sit on the edge of the bed coaxing her to wake up slowly with a hand running through her hair. Other times, days where his patience was wearing thin and stress was resting heavy on his shoulders for the past few weeks or when they were in danger of running late--God forbid--suddenly he would change. She got to witness it first hand too many times to count before she learned that playing along for these types of interactions would be best for the both of them.

He would stay silent, voicing his disagreement with a sigh before leaving her curled up under a blanket, content to move quietly around the house getting ready to preach to the masses. Giving her ample time to change her decision. 

For some reason she thought she won this fight the first time she came to the brilliant realization that he couldn’t make her get up. That she could just stay in bed and refuse. Foolishly she thought she bested him, like there was any choice in the matter, as if she still had control over herself. That was before he slipped back into their bedroom with a corked bottle of bliss and some reserve of strength she's only beared witness to a handful of times. It was easy to force the powdered substance to surround her, dumping it gingerly around the bed when she was stubborn enough to bury her head in a pillow to escape the fumes. 

On those days that he used bliss to transport her as if she was nothing more than one of Jacob’s wolves, he’d keep her surrounded in the sickly sweet drug. Unwilling to take any risk of an outburst if her head began to clear. He’d tuck a bliss flower behind her ear or, if he had the time, would grab a handful of flowers and adorn her head with a ringlet of nature spewing out flowing green rays before her body could eject it from her system. Along her wrist, for good measure, he’d encircle her skin with something akin to a corsage. 

The world went hazy soon after. She couldn’t remember showering, but she distinctly recalled the citrus smell of the shampoo Joseph always bought clinging to her. She felt him brush her hair and--though she had no memory of it--soon she’d be out the door fully dressed, hanging onto Joseph’s arm. 

Rook wouldn’t be able to recite what the Seeds had spoken about those days where she refused to get out of bed and Joseph resorted to his drug of choice. The world popped in and out of focus around her. Making voices distorted and less than pleasant. The one thing that stuck with her was how bright and angelic it made them look. They’d stand upon their podium like Gods, looking ethereal and deserving praise. That was the bliss talking, not the impending stockholm syndrome she was sure had already set in. 

It made her sick for days after. It was too much, she’s barely been exposed before being forced into Joseph’s life. And the excess he gave her made her head spin and kept her more dependent on him in the following week than she cared for. Yet despite all its downfalls sometimes she preferred going out like that. It made it easier on her conscience, made it feel like she wasn’t agreeing to these fucked up conditions he had set for her. If she went willingly--which ended up happening because she really couldn’t fight forever, she was only human--than it was like she was content with this life. It gave some indication that she was happy. She didn’t want Joseph or any of the Seeds to start getting that idea. 

It was so much worse when he announced a day before they were going to his church and she decided to play along. Those days made her question if the deal they had going was really worth it. What was more important? Her friend’s safety or her own mental sanity? Why was she so special that Joseph readily agreed to her terms; In exchange for her loyalty, he leaves the people of Hope County alone. It didn’t feel right, or fair. God knows that if she was in his shoes she wouldn’t have taken up that offer. That keeps her awake at night, fearing that he didn’t keep his side of the deal. That she was locked up, sometimes drugged out of her mind, and she had no way of knowing if he was being honest. It ate her up inside. Who knows? Maybe one day she’d find the courage to ask him to tell her the truth about how the people of Hope were managing.

Whatever the answer was in that regard, Rook was always ready, willing and able to put herself on the front lines. 

She puttered after him like it was every other morning they went through together. Her a little more begrudgingly than him, she would never look forward to seeing his fucked up family who all belonged on some spectrum of the psychopathy scale. Joseph dress her in what he deemed best, kissing away at her frown, which worked best to keep a smile on her face. Wearing that mask would be better than having him press his lips to hers every few minutes as a reminder. With a hand on the small of her back he’d lead her out the door with a bounce in his step. Always so excited to show her off like a proud animal might. 

It would’ve been sweet if not for the subtle hints of intimidation lingering around her the entire time. 

It could be Joseph’s gaze or how he always kept his hands on her. Like she was stupid enough to run in a caged commune like his island was. And if it wasn’t Joseph who had his eyes on her, it was his brothers and sister. Just as keen as the prophet himself. 

Faith would be the first to catch hold of her. A disarming grin stretching wide as she assured Joseph, “Don’t worry Father, I can keep Rook company. There are so many who wanted to greet you, I’d be remiss to keep you from that.” Said when Faith took note of the lack of bliss swirling around Rook. A signal that she was a loose firecracker who couldn’t be trusted near their flock. Faith would rock on her heels, holding her hands tightly until the bones creaked. Either she didn’t notice or didn’t care. Whatever the case she was sure it was a way of an unspoken threat to behave. She didn’t need to tell Rook twice, not after Rook was stupid enough to snarl out some stupid threat of bashing her skull into the pretty white doors of the chapel, and when that didn’t have the desired effect her mouth kept moving, promising to slit The Father’s throat tonight when they were lying cozy in bed. Faith wasn’t regretful in blowing a powder of bliss in her face before she could turn away, leading her back to Joseph and whispered something too light to catch in his ear.

She paid heavily for those words when they got home and the bliss eased its way out of her body. After that she learned to deal with his family and to keep her mouth locked up around his brothers who had the ability to do worse things to her. 

John would smile brightly in greeting, disguising his anger in front of his flock. Whether that anger be from her destroying half his land or her being solely Joseph’s, she wasn’t sure. Not like it mattered at the end of the day. Anger was anger, and when it took hold of a John it became an issue. He’d hide that wrath in front of Joseph, whenever he would wander away, entrusting his family to keep her in check, John would suddenly grow fiercer. He would hold her tightly by her upper arm. Nails digging in a little too sharply. He’d lean in close and whisper in her ear, telling her of all the awful things he’d do to her if he ever got his hands on her.

The topic would shift each time. Ranging from how he’d keep her chained to his bed and at his mercy or threatening to mark up her skin like he once had. Recounting that he wasn’t quite finished scrubbing her soul clean. Either option he granted her was equally terrifying and made her thankful for a small second that Joseph was the one who was her keeper.

When the sermon did start and The Father took his rightful place behind his pulpit, she’d be forced by Jacob’s strong hand guiding her to sit by him. The family knew as well as she did that she’d never dare to move if his presence was looming nearby. 

When Joseph wasn’t looking, his older brother’s hands would stray. He made those nights all the more worse. She could deal with John’s crude and empty threats, but she was always left trembling after an encounter with Jacob. Sometimes he’d wrap an arm around her waist, fingers digging into her waist while he pulled at the threads of her dress. Other times he’d take out the music box from his pocket and trace the lid, clicking it open and shut with a smug smile, relishing in how he felt her entire body tensing. 

It was hell.

Making it even worse that Joseph turned a blind eye. 

It wasn’t going to get better, she knew that. She was only reinforcing Joseph’s fucked up ideology when she crowded in closer to him on the drive home after every sermon he dragged her out to. Still afraid despite having left the rest of the Seeds back at the church.

Each time, without fail, as they’d return home and she’d crawl into bed, she’d let Joseph pull her tight. He’d ease her fears, he knew she was scared of his family. He couldn’t have not known. Rook had a feeling that he was using that to his advantage. Using his brothers as a way to force her mind and body towards him.

And God help her, but it was working. They both could tell it was working when she’d be the one to kiss him goodnight, pulling at his cheeks and urging him closer. After those nights she would suddenly curl into his chest with the request for him to sing to her.

It was working for him, she was well aware of that. And either she’d snap and push out against his brothers in an act that would leave someone dead once her sanity ran out, or she’d fall into Joseph completely until she couldn't climb back out.

Either one meant death in her eyes. For now she was content with fate running its course just as the Lord above intended.


	26. [Omegaverse pt 2] PolySeed/Rook

“We shouldn't have just left her like that. It’s cruel.”

“Yeah?” Jacob sat a little too heavily on the coffee table, offering a glass of sweet tea that John grabbed fiercely, anger glaring when the liquid splashed over the side of the rim onto his fingers. “Were we supposed to beg for her? Get on our knees, bare our throats--like you--” Earning him the bite and snap of John’s teeth, “and plead for her to have us during her heat? Not all of us act like a needy bitch.”

John scrubbed a hand over his face, shoving down the urge to kick out at Jacob to make him topple onto the floor. He tipped his head back to slam into the cushions of the couch. “No, no. Of course not.” John was sitting slumped over on the couch, feet knocking into the legs of the table as he stretched out with a grunt. “But at her age with no mate. She’s going to suffer. Eden’s Gate doesn't even let people go wanting. We keep them safe, we keep a close eye on them if they’re not mated.”

“She might find some omega to roll around with.” Jacob suggested with a shrug. The thought bothered him, made jealousy stab sharp in his stomach, something not fit for a man of 47 to feel. “She’s got friends, deputies too who she seems close with.” His eyes flicked up when John growled again low in his throat. “They could help each other through her heat John, I’m sure she’s got it all planned out.”

John scoffed. Tossing his hand in the air in a flippant manner before placing it heavily on his neck, fingers teasing at where a mating mark would look so pretty on Rook’s neck. “What? Like a friends with benefits kind of deal?” His head shook roughly at the thought, she was cute, body amazing from what little he saw with her in her uniform, he didn’t mind picturing her above him. Dominating and taking. But above someone else, or even someone pinning her down. “That’s...unethical.”

“As much as you may want it John, she’s not apart of Eden’s Gate, the ‘rules’ you believe are proper and righteous doesn’t apply to others. We can’t steal her from her home, where she’s comfortable nesting, simply because we are worried about her.” Joseph chimed in from where he was in the kitchen. He poked his head around the corner, glasses slipped through his shirt and dangling when he leaned to see where John sat. “There isn’t much we could do even if she was a member of our flock. And standing with us or not we cannot go around casting judgement.”

Jacob nodded in agreement if only to appease his brother, two against one usually worked out in their household. Rising because the smell of food in the next room was more appealing than thinking about what could've been with his brother turning into a whining mess of a man. John wasn’t quick to follow. He only craned his neck up to catch Joseph’s eyes. “We could invite her for dinner. At the compound,” he swallowed thickly as his scent swelled with arousal, “For some people, the smell of nearby omegas--”

“Bad idea.” Jacob spoke around a mouthful of bread, laid out by Joseph with the intentions of being ate in another ten minutes.”Fucking stupid too, you nearing your heat John? Not thinking right?” He stepped beside Joseph, phone already in his hand as he passed it over. “Call her, check in. Putting her in a position to come over isn’t smart when he’s like that.”

“Bite me.”

That made Joseph cock an eyebrow. Body tensing as he scented the air. Cringing at how John smelled...off, not near his heat like Jacob’s crude joke suggested, but angry. Bothered and irritated, rearing for a fight. That scent got John in trouble a lot when they were younger. Some twisted form of muscle memory making Joseph feel uneasy. And with Rook in her heat, nose sensitive to pick up on subtle changes, she’d smell the acidity of John, and he wasn’t willing to put her in an awkward position.

“Rest John. I’ll talk to Rook and you can calm down.” He took his phone out of Jacob’s hand, tightening his grip as he gave one more concerned glance at his brother as he skirted around Jacob, back into the kitchen with the order for the eldest to keep an eye on John. “Make him take a shower or something. It’s not healthy for him to be stressed and wanting over something like this.”

*****

Rook’s head was buried between two pillows. Trying to lessen the noises she was making because—fuck—the walls in her apartment complex were beyond thin. Her hips were rocking downward into her hand, swirling over her swollen clit, jerking with a strangled gasp. Nearing her fifth orgasm since she collapsed on her bed twenty minutes ago. It was around that time, with her hand working furiously to reach her peak, when a soft buzzing gained her attention. Rattling incesitnly against her thigh.

“For fuck’s sake.” She grabbed at her phone, flipping on her back to speak clearly and make it seem as if she wasn't currently rubbing between her folds as she held a normal conversation. “What?” Didn’t bother looking at who it was. It didn’t matter. They’d hear her rut wrecked voice and hang up if they had enough sense in their head.

And yet Joseph didn’t sound dissuaded to her ears when he spoke. Calm and level, a cadence to his  voice that made her shudder because she couldn’t just forget that smooth tone when it was the exact one she was trying to push away in the final days before her heat descended upon her with the intentions of ruining her. 

He was talking, giving away his voice freely with the gentle chatter of someone mumbling in the background, and she was barely listening. Nodding along despite him not being able to see. The only indication of her hearing him was the small sounds of affirmation she made whenever he paused. Either in thought or to check if she was still listening. In those small stints of silence, Rook would hold her breath and pray to God that he wasn’t hearing the small growls she couldn’t hold back. Hoped that the sound of her hand rubbing away between her folds with slick coating her hands wasn’t making too much noise for the phone to pick up to pique his curiosity and wonder what kind of deputy she really was.

God forbid, he heard that, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be welcome on church grounds.

“Rook.”

She hummed, head tipping back with a sigh.

“You’re out of it. You sound delirious...unwell.”

Rook laughed. Fingers swirling around her entrance in time with the natural falls of his voice. “Just my heat Joseph. How I always sound when it comes.”

It was his turn not to answer. To only let out a noise that came deep within his throat. Something he didn’t bother covering up. “Really?”

“Yeah. Kinda rude of you to say I’m unwell, no matter how well intentioned it was,” she wasn’t actually angry, only hoping to keep him speaking if it meant getting her off quicker, “besides, never had one of my own to bed down with, but I thought omegas were supposed to like the raw voice thing during an alpha’s heat.” It was brass and rude, that much she was aware of.

“It’s...a natural thing in life. I didn’t mean to offend. I’m only concerned. A friend reaching out.” She winced at his words. A finger dipped in her cunt that hastily retreated to lay limp against her openly splayed thigh. Yes. Friends. Their encounters were limited and always under professional pretense. She was getting off on a friend’s voice. It was a low thing to do, even under an alpha’s standards.

She shifted again, going back to lying on her stomach. Cheek smushed into the pillow as she wriggled her hips in a weak attempt at soothing the ache in her body. “Well, you reached out. You hear I’m not dead. Is that all you wanted?”

“No.” Rook waited for him to continue. Breathed in deep and prompted him with his name when he failed to do so. “I don’t want to intrude, but, do you have anyone to help placate you?”

“I’m not mated.” Blurted out quickly and sounding too defensive. “And I wouldn’t sleep around like that.” Though she had in the past. The very recent past. She grabbed some omega who smelled sweet and fertile enough to satiate her. She remembered the bed partners she kept pinned down and tied up. Begging and writhing for her until they were a mess, putty in her hands.

Joseph was old fashioned. A southern boy who had a strong moral compass if the commune he was setting up was anything to go by. He didn’t need to know what she did in her spare time when she got desperate enough.

“That’s why you sound as awful as you do, hm?” Sounding like a lecturing parent more than someone who reciprocated the feelings she had ever since their first encounter. “Be careful. Rest. Give your body a break.” She heard his unspoken words even after he hung up.

Don’t fuck yourself over and over again without a break in between. Telling her how to handle a heat like this was her first one. In those few words, reminding her—as a friend—to eat and drink before fucking a toy so far into her cunt that bruises were bound to form.

Something in his voice before he left her ears ringing with silence made her listen though. Rook sucked in air through clenched teeth and arched her back off the bed with a whine of annoyance. A whine in response to the same one Joseph etched into his tone along with his suggestion. He wasn’t exactly young, and she doubted he was naive enough to not understand what she was doing during her heat. That the right amount of inflection would make any alpha’s walls come tumbling down. He had to of known what that did to her.

It felt right to adhere to what he told her to do. He wasn’t even her omega, but it was so goddamn right.

So she listened, he was miles away without knowing if she was taking his advice or not, yet she did what he told her to only because he sounded concerned. The thought of him worrying made her own stomach tie into knots.

When she trotted back into bed with dripping hair, wet from the first shower she took in days, and a stomach full of a water with an energy bar in her hand, she foolishly waited for him to call again. Wishing and praying to hear his voice one last time before she dozed off to sleep, hands pointedly kept away from her body. Just as Joseph requested.

Little more than a day passed before she was bothered again. The week started with a phone call pulling her out of her head right before she could cum and now there seemed to be a rather persistent person banging on her door like the world was coming to an end and they just couldn't wait.

Fun fact: they could. Rook had no problem telling them as much. She got snippy during her heat, easy to agitate, she knew this. She was an unmated alpha for fuck’s sake.

She was dealing with something she deemed far more important than greeting whoever was at the door, such as the relief she was getting from the comfort of a warm steamy shower, with her hand buried between her folds. Everything was achy and sore, her arm muscles tingling from discomfort when she twisted the nozzle to stop the water flow, since whoever was standing outside her apartment wasn't going away anytime soon.

Rook clambered out slowly, wincing when her legs shifted, clit rubbing painfully against her folds. “I’m coming!” She doubted they could hear her, if the slamming on her door was any indication. Pounding what sounded like a furled up fist and--as she saw when she stepped in view of the door--shaking the wood on its hinges.

She breathed in deep. Nose just as sore as the rest of her body. Working overdrive to pick up every little scent. And at that moment all she could smell was pure anger flowing in waves. That and a layer of something else beneath it. Something different. Whether it be annoyance or agitation she wasn’t sure. Maybe a combination of both judging by how nicely they accented each other. 

Rook was smart, she didn’t open the door all the way. Only peaked her head out of the miniscule crack she made. Even that sliver of light had her keening away in protest, a whimper of pain on her lips. Rook glared up with lids falling heavy, eyes pausing on the frozen fist hovering in the air, half extended and ready to knock again. She breathed in deep, anger still making his scent sour, highlighting certain notes which made everything smell more potent.

“Joseph said…” John trailed off. Lips flapping closed uselessly as he searched her face with his searing gaze. “Joseph called you. Said you sounded worn out.” He paused, hand reaching out for balance on the door, peering inside when his weight made her stumble a step back. “He mentioned how you were alone. No mate.”

Her eyes went down, lips twisting. “I am. Nothing I haven't been through before.” Him nor Joseph needed to know how this was something new. That there were so few times that she was by herself.

John nodded. Cheeks flushed a scary shade of pink. “You smell--” Another deep breath that had him swaying towards her, “God you smell so fucking good.” That comment had her snarling. A growl tearing its way out of her throat on its own accord as she reached out, hand hesitating to cup his cheek. Hanging awkwardly in the air.

“Thanks sweetheart. What a compliment. And to receive it from such a pretty omega.” Her words had the intended effect. She was an alpha, she had the power to manipulate. She was well aware of what she was doing. It had John shuffling close and shoving his burning hot scent in her direction until it was all she could smell. “Right back at you, Johnny.” She winced, fearing the pet name might be too much, instantly recoiling and pulling back her hand as a gust of cold wind made her shiver. John followed though, taking a step closer until his shoulder was pushing into the door. He whined lowly as he crowded her space and was standing in front of her. Breathing deep and holding out a single hand, pushing through the crack in the door, hovering carefully around her neck.

“Can I? I--you don’t have to say yes. But I think I could help. Maybe I could do something, whatever you want. Anything. Nothing sexual, I wouldn’t come here for only that.” He finally closed his hands around her skin. “I don’t want to insult you.” His thumbs pressed in to her scent gland, rubbing the area like he could coax out her scent fully into the air. “I know you’re more than just a needy alpha.”

His shoulder pushed more, knocking the door inward slowly. Enough time for her to protest, lacking any force behind the action. His head swiveled around her space from the small amount he could see with one foot jammed in the door.

“Your really just gonna barge in like this John? Without my say so.” She clucked her tongue in chastisement, the feral side of her brain howling at how she saw his pupils dilated when they turned away from her living space and back to her. “Naughty omega.”

That whine sounded from his throat again, a low sounding thing that she wasn’t at all surprised to hear.

Rook reached up, careful to avoid his still outstretched hand where it had wondered up, lingering on her jaw, and she buried her own hand in his hair. Scratching softly in consideration. “I suppose I could say yes. The company would be welcome, It’s been rough.”

John was quick to nod, equally as quick to follow her lead when she guided him by the nape of his neck so he could walk fully inside. He tripped over his shoes as he toed them off by the foot of her bed when she gave a sharp command, “Fancy lawyer like you, figured you weren’t raised by wolves. C’mon, manners John.” It was just for play, there was no real anger in her voice. No, an omega like John, with the rumors of the Seeds past floating around, she had a feeling he would shy away from wrath.

“What should I do?” John mumbled, neck craning up to meet her gaze when he laid fully down. “I can--” There was the harsh bob of his throat as he swallowed, scent flowing out before he yanked it back in. A quick flash of guilt in his gaze when he looked away.

Rook hummed, noticing how small he was making himself. How he was curling in on his body, protecting his stomach and almost in the fetal position. Nervous or scared.

She reached out, a careful hand going once again to cup the nape of his neck. “Something’s wrong.” And suddenly she pulled her hand back, curled it to her chest as she shifted to sit up. She used her heat, her alpha status, to take him by the hand and bring him inside her home. Manipulation wasn’t illegal. But she was raised better than that.

God she needed to get laid.

John laughed at her words. It was strained and tight. A scratchy sound that made her wince. “Joseph.” It wasn’t an explanation. But she understood it was all she was going to get when his scent was flowing out something sour that she knew was going to linger for days uncomfortably.

“What?” She prodded, leaning in close on her elbow in an attempt to catch his eyes. “Problems at home? A brotherly disagreement?”

John nodded with the quick snap of his neck. Giving her a wry grin as his head smacked down on a rumpled pillow. “Oh, something like that. He’ll get over it.”

Rook smiled back in return, lips as tight as his, because is Jacob just so happened to be on Joseph’s side of whatever fight John was running from like a scared puppy then she was a little more than scared. She in no way was about to fight someone who was ex military. “Am I gonna get in trouble?” Asked with a teasing tone to hide her discontent.

John’s nose was shoved into her pillow, taking periodic sniffs that were deeper than the rest. Eyes bleary and unfocused when he heard her speak again. “You may be the sole reason for the our disagreement in the first place,” He paused when her eyes widened, lips rising over sharp teeth, body tense and hyperactive, “But the last thing any of us would do is hurt you.” He flopped over on his back with an abrupt move. “I should leave, I just wanted to...to see for myself I suppose.”

He rose on unsteady legs. Taking a final sweeping glance of her bedroom as he inched towards the door. “And obviously I was right, nothing to worry about.” He mumbled it to himself. Already making an exit, moving quicker when his phone rang. His creased brow looked worried as he hurried out the door with apologies on his full lips that she tracked until he was gone from sight and all she had left of him was his scent.

She’d be fine, now that her bed sheets smelt just like him. It’d help her get through the next few days, whether that was intentional or not.  Perhaps sent from Joseph himself with how concerned he sounded over the phone. And maybe John didn’t want to be the sacrificial lamb, thrown into an omegas household the way he was. It’d explain why he left so quickly, why he immediately set to work shoving his scent around quite a bit. Such a disagreement would be just cause for anxiety and anger in the Seed household. It almost made it worse that it was helping, worse still that John probably didn’t volunteer to have his scent shoved into her system during her heat.

So fucking stupid for even opening the door. Rook had an apology to make she supposed. When her brain wasn’t turned to mush and she wasn’t bound to pounce on John once she saw him.

Her heat was interesting after that. Her emotions were a mess, more so than they would be. It was a confusing mix of guilt and pleasure. A combination of tortuous phone calls made by Joseph--friends they were friends--and John stopping by too often for her neighbors not to notice. Too often with a quick visit that reinforced the idea that he didn’t want to be there. His hackles were always raised. Always tense and glancing around the room like someone was about to burst in the room, a hand held tight around his phone as he checked it every few seconds.

Sometimes she could convince herself that he was only afraid of his brothers or even his flock finding about his frequent visits to an alpha’s house. He’d call, ask if she had anyone to help her through her heat. She couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or not when she had the same answer for him every time. Other times he looked too anxious for that to be the case.

Having this strange semblance of a friendship was driving her mad. She was in the throes of her heat and the day where Joseph left a friendly opening for her to stop by and listen to his sermon, probably to save her soul from the damnation of lust, her mind would rush off on how nice it’d feel to stake her claim while his entire flock watched.

But no, she couldn’t fuck the preacher. And she was dangerously close to tearing John’s pants off one time, catching herself rutting into his thigh when she her heat had gotten to the point where moving from her bed and he had taken up place lying next to her. She had pathetically asking him with a demure tone that wasn’t like the alpha she was.

All those moments, combined with whatever mess was going on between Joseph and John that she had somehow caught herself in between, is what led to her holed up in the woods, camping equipment set up for a nice break away from society and their sweet smelling omegas.

It was calming for once.

And no one could hear her screams of pleasure late at night when urges overrode her senses and she came with a simple touch of her hand.

She was living the simple life and her heat was coming to a close. Rounding up nicely that’d she’d be able to get back into town in the next week and act like she hadn’t fell off the side of the earth.

That was the plan. And if the universe didn’t hate her so much it might’ve worked out without any kinks.

Yet she was staring down a 6”3 man who was content watching her as she struggled carrying chopped pieces of lumber to her makeshift campsite so she wouldn’t freeze to death.

“Mind helping me, or are you gonna stand there like a creep?”

“I’m not creeping.”

She laughed as she walked by him. Breathing in a larger intake of breath as she passed. Frowning when his scent was covered with fresh pine. “No? Then what are you doing? Long way from home.”

“So are you.” His eyes follow after her, shifting on his feet before answering, “I’m hunting.”

She swallowed hard. Steps faltering before realizing he fell into pattern beside her. Hand hovering over her arm until she picked up her pace again. “For?” Because him hunting and stumbling across her with something she couldn’t identify in his eyes did weird things to her body. Strange omega. Though she bit her tongue on those words. She wasn’t about to imply there was something wrong with him. He wasn’t defective, he adapted just fine to his environment, was able bodied to protect his people and as an added bonus made her want to dominate even so close to reaching the end of her heat, to her he was as  perfect as his brothers. “You don’t have a gun on you. No rifle.”

He smiled, an uptick of his lips. “I’ve got all I need.”

“All you have is that knife.”

Jacob grabbed at the weapon mentioned, strapped to his thigh. Tilting it in his hands for her to take a sideways glance at. “It’s sharp.”

She hummed. Dumping the firewood off near her tent. Cocking an eyebrow his way when he kicked at the pile of wood with the tip of his boot, smeared with mud and something suspiciously red. “That’s too wet to light. You’ll freeze out here.”

“And you’ll get maimed by a rabid wolf. I guess we’ll both die tonight.”

Rook dropped to her knees, eyes flicking to Jacob when he followed down next to her. Shoulder pressed into hers as he aligned the supposed too wet wood in a campfire formation. “Lemme help.”

That made her hands pause, hovering as he worked beside her with efficiency that told her he’s done this before. She didn’t focus on his rough callused hands, or the small curl in his hair that fluttered in the wind, surprisingly she had enough strength to ignore the way his scent was peaking out beneath all the dirt that covered his clothes. Her mind was elsewhere, questioning why this man, who she’s only spoken to once, and had seen from afar ever since that first encounter, was suddenly eager to stop his hunting exhibition to aid her in starting a fire.  

“Did you need something Jacob?”

He didn’t answer her until a fire was stoked between them with little more than the flick of some flint he had on him from God only knows where. “I might’ve had a question to ask.” He breathed out a sigh, eyes clipped tight for half a second, “More like a favor.”

That caught her attention. It also made her heart clench tight, strangely enough, when his eyes met hers.  “Yeah?” He was polite in the small aspects, not mentioning how tight and strained her voice sounded.

“Been thinking about the future of Eden’s Gate. Joseph, Johnny and I’ve started forming a coherent plan. And I’ve been given the special job of forming an army.”

“An army.” She laughed in his face, smelling how his scent wavered, fighting against the dirt he was covered in. “In Hope County? We’re a small group. We’ve already got people to make sure things don’t get too out of hand.” Jacob did a quick sweep of her body at her words, as if searching for the badge that normally adorned her breast whenever he saw her. “That’s me. My job. You trying to steal my job?”

“Nah Rook, course not.” He scratched at his cheek, rolling the tension out of his neck. “More like a militia. A small group of soldiers, that’s all. I mean, you’ve seen first hand how bad the locals can get around us. And what if you or one of your deputy friends don’t show up on time? What if people get hurt, or even killed?”

Her heart sped up the tiniest bit. “Have they?” She leaned in closer, rolling her scent towards him carefully. Like Jacob would be the one to keel so easily to an alpha.

He was quiet. Sitting back on his ass with bent knees and hands hanging in between. “No. Nothing like that. It could happen though. Shit’s getting ugly.” He stayed silent again, fists curling briefly, cords in his neck standing out like this whole conversation was a physical pain for him. “I’m asking a favor here. Real simple alpha.”

That title made her head spin, no matter how near her heat was to ending, it was something that forced her to stand, to take a few steps back.

“Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“How do you feel about some training?” He stood along with her when she took another step back. “Military style. Something more than your basic defense class that you got at whatever program the academy pushed you into.”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. Considering. Rook shoved her hands in her pocket, finally catching a small trickle of his scent that made her nose tingle. So purposeful and unlike Jacob that it made her wonder how serious he was about this. “I don’t wanna be a soldier.” Her hands twitched when he came closer, standing only a foot away now.

“Not recruiting just yet...there’s still some, uh,” he rubbed at his chin, ruffling his beard in the process, “Some kinks Joe and I gotta work out.” he shrugged, eyes shifting down. “I just think it wouldn’t hurt if you were prepared.”

“Prepared for what exactly?”

He smiled. Or tried to. It seemed too forced for her to return the gesture. “You know....”

“I don’t.” When he looked up, eyes grabbing hers, his smile dropped.

Jacob grunted, something annoyed and harsh. Like he couldn’t find the right words to explain what she should obviously know.  “What If I begged?” He closed the distance between them. A less than hostile look in his eyes.

He did exactly that. Jacob tipped his head back and fucking whined. A noise that wasn’t easy or practiced in the slightest. It sounded like it was torn out from his throat, ruining his vocal cords with the roughness of it. It didn’t have that same soft rolling sound when John did the same thing or the gentle noise Joseph always put into his words out of habit. He wasn’t loose either when he bared his throat to her. The tendons in his neck were standing to attention, his scent uneasy, shining through and making her cough.

Rook had to admit though, it did make for a nice sight. No matter how uncomfortable he looked. It was purposeful and meant to tease and persuade. It got the job done.

“Go on then soldier.” She spread her arms wide with a laugh. “Train me.”

Having Jacob lead and teach her, it was brutal. Like being taught by an animal who had no mercy, no morals. If she didn’t know him she would’ve been scared about how particular he was about everything. Sub par wouldn’t cut it. He’d give her sharp commands to try again when he couldn’t knock him to the ground. Curt responses that made her more angry than anything. Orders to try again, to do better.

Because she had to be prepared. Rook wanted to believe it was a bullshit excuse for him to check in on her the same as John and Joseph had once done before--like a coward--she ran into the forest. She found it hard to imagine an army being trained under a religious group, so yes, she preferred her idea better.

They worked until she was dripping with sweat and could finally push him onto the ground in succession, he made her do it until he was sure the first time wasn’t a fluke. She brought him to his knees with ease over and over again and he smiled. Scent flowing out with something wanton and pleased. A sharp tang filling the air and making her loopy, practically going limp from her spot seated on his hips.

“Good job Deputy.” He grabbed at her hand, holding onto it tight with a squeeze, him still on his back and her straddling him. “Think you’re gonna make it. Joseph and John will be pleased.”

He left it at that, ignored her questions calling after him. And she had a lot of them. Starting at where the fuck she fit into their lives having entered it only two weeks earlier.

Rook asked him one last time, not speaking until he was far away and all her thoughts were in order, wondering, questioning the broad expanse of his back if she should be scared. He took a glance over his shoulder, lips stuttering for an answer before smiling something forced again. It wasn’t an answer. Not even close to one when he left her alone in the woods with their scents clinging to each other's skin for a paltry goodbye in favor for any explanation.

She needed distance and time. She needed them to forget she even existed if she planned on spending the rest of her life here. Though something about telling a preacher to lose her number seemed wrong. Especially when he had a growing ‘militia’ to protect him.


	27. [m!Rook a/b/o pt 1] Jacob/m!Rook

“Back the fuck off.” Panted out words that barely held any weight when Rook was struggling to hold himself up, pistol trained right at the doorway. Aiming the best he could manage from his position on the floor. Hoping that if he pulled the trigger he would at least get somewhere near Jacob’s head and not break a window. “Now’s not the time.” And it wasn’t, those words weren’t for show. He wasn’t being dramatic. In fact he didn’t think it would ever be the proper time to fall into his heat when he was fighting a war.

Jacob still looked stunned. After everything Rook knew about the man he never thought he’d see the day where he was speechless. Yet Jacob was hesitating in the entrance, fingers turning white at where they were gripped around the handle. His nose was twitching, even with how far Rook was he could see that, see how Jacob was assessing the situation. Trying to figure out why the fuck he walked in on Rook curled up on the floor in front of a raging fireplace to keep his dick from freezing off, because he was naked, bare as the day he was born. And indecent enough to be rutting against a pillow like an animal.

He cleared his throat, finally stepping in the tiny beat-up cabin Rook had stumbled upon when he had snarled out a breathy whine of ‘If you’re not gonna leave at least close the door! You’re letting all the cold air in.’

“So uh,” Jacob scanned the room, landing back on Rook’s frozen form--noting how he was squirming to keep from full on bucking into the cotton shoved between his thighs, “You usually spend your Mondays like this deputy?”

Rook breathed in deep. Ignored how his cock pulsed and slick poured out of him like his own body was perfectly fine committing treason if it meant Jacob would shove something up his ass. “You’re so fucking funny huh Jacob? You should be a comedian when you grow up.” And that got him a bark of laughter as Jacob kneeled down—10 feet away but too close for the very fragile thread he was hanging off of—and the man smiled...like an asshole. Finally finding even footing as Rook’s scent filled the enclosed room fully. He was a man of 40, he knew that smell.

“It’s not safe for an omega to be alone in his heat, all alone, no mate. And out here in the mountains…” Jacob whistled, head dropping in mock sorrow, “well honey I thought you were smarter than that.”

Rook couldn’t help but snarl. His lips rose as he snapped out at Jacob. Anger bubbling in his gut when the soldier didn’t even flinch.

Fucking power hungry alpha.

Maybe If Rook asked nicely Jacob would very kindly piss off and leave. Go back the way he came and forget where Rook was riding out his heat. For once he could show mercy.

Not that such a notion seemed probable, because Jacob was extending a hand out to him. Palm faced up, like Rook was some dog in need of soothing. Ready to lash out at everyone who came near. And he wasn’t too far off. Rook was already tensing up, aware he was defenseless, literally caught with his pants down and way too needy.

“Poor thing.” Cooed so softly in Rook’s direction that he had to strain his ears to hear it. The fact he might miss something coming out of Jacob’s mouth had him leaning closer. He was rewarded for his efforts with a usually rough hand turned gentle curling through his hair. Ruffling the strands and smoothing down to the nape of his neck to pet at the locks that twisted and curved.

“Good boy.”

Rook full on moaned at that. Felt a rush of heat blossom through his stomach as his hips jerked into the pillow. Chasing a release he had stopped moments before all because Jacob was talking to him. He was gone though, too far gone on his little island that he didn’t care that this was probably a trap. Laid out so perfectly for Jacob that he didn’t even need to try this time around.

Rook kept his eyes slightly open, jerked whenever they closed for even a second. He wasn't that stupid, didn’t want to get that far into his heat where he started showing the soft side of his underbelly to the enemy. Not like it seemed to matter, this whole thing was more of a game to Jacob going by the ever-present smile on his lips.

Jacob inched forward. Scooted closer on his knees with a hand still buried in Rook’s hair. He tipped his chin up with his free hand. Made Rook look up at him. “What do you want pup? You gotta tell me.” His eyes darted back to where Rook was humping the pillow, hips moving in small circles as his cock leaked. It was red and angry from the stimulation. Wanting a human touch more than anything.

“I don’t know.” It came out as an awful whine. Though his head couldn’t drop forward from the strong grip Jacob had on him. “Just need to cum.”

Jacob laughed. Tipped his head down until they were only inches apart and Rook was puffing hot breath over the bridge of Jacob’s nose. “I can work with that.” He disentangled his grip from the younger man’s hair to slide down his spine, slick with sweat. He stopped at his ass, squeezing one of his cheeks before leaning down to whisper in Rook’s ear. “You gonna let me go behind you? Give you what you need?”

“God yes.”

That was really all Jacob needed to change positions. To coax Rook’s hips up with legs splayed as much as he could manage. The pillow was yanked away to give Jacob room to work. He gripped onto either cheek, pulling it apart to reveal his twitching hole. Clenching around an imaginary mate that he was desperate for.

He bent his head, licking from Rook’s balls up to his hole. An action that had Rook’s hips swaying restlessly. Jacob went slow with the stroked of his tongue. Licked around the ring of muscle before pulling away to gather up his slick with a single finger. Though that never went inside him, just twirled round and round. Not exactly meant to be teasing, just preparatory.

“Not a fucking virgin Jacob.” His leg landed, hitting Jacob’s thigh and rammed into his stomach next. He held back any words about him being a needy omega and only gazed up at Rook with wide eyes. “Make me cum. Shove your fingers in my ass and fuck me Seed. Act like a fucking alpha for God’s sake.”

He didn’t break eye contact as he followed instructions, taking two fingers and pushing them inside. “Maybe not a virgin. Still tight though.”

Rook just grunted, head falling forward on the wood floor. He couldn’t argue with that. Not when Jacob was only one finger in, up to his first knuckle and it was already starting to hurt. His body pulling taut around the intrusion.

So he let Jacob work. Laid on the cold wooden floor that helped to stave off the heat in his core, rutting against the pillow because Jacob was paying zero attention to the growing need between Rook’s legs. Content to watch him fall apart and lose his mind on just his fingers shoved up inside him alone.

“Think you can cum like this?” Jacob didn’t need to clarify his question when he slid a second finger in and twisted them around wickedly, sending Rook into a flurry of curse words. “Is this good enough for you pup? Or are you as greedy as John likes to think you are?” That sentence had certain implications, even if they didn’t directly relate to how much Rook wouldn’t at all mind treating both brothers when his heat rolls around and instead was referencing to the younger brother’s obsession for sin. But the former sounded so much more appealing. It had Rook imagining Jacob exactly where he was, only with the added addition of John kneeling in front of him. Cooing softly in his ear with his cock shoved down his throat until Rook was choking on it.

He came seconds later from that image, with a cruel bubbling want curling in his stomach. He spilled out over his skin and the now ruined pillow that wasn’t even his.

Jacob laughed lowly. Pulling his fingers out and leaning over Rook to grab at his jaw and tilt his head up. “What? That’s all you got in ya?” He couldn’t answer, was too sensitive, too tired and dazed on how nice Jacob’s scent turned hot and sweet when he was aroused. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind coming back with me. I can help you, honey, you won’t be left wanting.” Jacob didn’t give him time to answer, just stood, dragging Rook with him, not wasting time hauling him over his shoulder with a bounce in his step and a whistled tune falling from his lips.


	28. [m!Rook a/b/o pt 2] John/m!Rook

While Jacob was cruel, an exabitionist in the best kind of ways, willing to touch Rook and give him so much, John was the opposite. They were similar in the fact that they wouldn't leave him the fuck alone, stumbling upon him like this was only routine for John. And since Rook was currently in the middle of the woods, he was willing to bet this wasn’t what John did for fun on a normal day.

“Jacob said I might find you here.”

“Oh yeah? And did that mean he gave you an open invitation to come find me?” It was snarled out, breathy and awful, voiced wrecked from his rut. Such a quality had the power to bring a weaker man to heel. John was well poised though, giving off nothing more than a chuckle, flat palm resting in the open V of his shirt as he took a couple more steps near him.

“I didn’t think you should be alone.”

“Fuck off.”

John frowned, stopping short before he reached where Rook was curled up with his spine pressing into a tree. “Jacob said you weren’t so wrathful a few days ago. That you knew how to be sweet.”

Rook breathed out something close to a laugh. Spreading his legs a tad bit wider to draw John’s gaze to the noticeable bulge popping out of unbuttoned jeans. “And you figured that to mean…?”

“That you could be saved. There could still be hope for you. Maybe you aren’t as destructive and angry as I first thought.”

He nodded along to John’s words as if he was really listening. He was more annoyed if anything, lucky for him that this wasn’t Jacob. He wouldn’t test the eldest brother. John was a different story. A goddamn loose canon. And he could work with that. “You’re jealous.”

 

“No.” He blew out an angry breath. Eyes closing briefly. “But he--Jacob--mentioned how good you smelled.” John took a shaky step forward, inhaling to make evidence to his claim. 

“I’m not fucking you.”

John’s cheeks turned a rosy pink. Spreading up to his hairline and covering up his normal tone. “You fucked Jacob.” He sounded annoyed, frustrated too. 

“It was the other way around actually.”

Checkmate. Just like that. Rook saw the envy come rushing back in those words he spat at the unhinged man standing before him. It was a beautiful thing really. It would be fun too if the swell of his scent, turning red hot, didn’t make Rook any harder than he already was. 

“Yeah, your brother’s pretty good in bed. Talks a big game, and oh boy, does he deliver.” Rook shifted his legs wider, hand curled viciously around his cock, working himself off to the memory. “Seems to me like he wants to be the one to make me heel, he’d like it if he turned me  
Into his well trained pet.” He sucked in air as he tipped his head back against the rough bark of a tree, a groan falling free from his lips. “I’m not too adverse to that idea.” He smiled when he saw John falter a foot from him, knees breaking out under him, letting himself drop down to the dirt and ruin his jeans. 

John quirked his lips up, “Yeah?” His voice cracked on his words when he shuffled closer, the material of his pants catching on the bulge in his pants. 

Rook kicked his foot out, away from him, knocking into John’s knee in the process. “Yep,” he licked at his lips, fingers teasing over the tip and swirling a soft pattern. He came with a strangled cry and John’s hand curled around his ankle, coaxing fingers brushing along exposed skin. “Yeah, I’d like to do that. Jacob would make a nice mate wouldn’t he?”

John was up and gone before Rook could say another word. Stomping away with a limp, trying to hide his erection as he climbed in his car, fingers tight around the steering wheel, seething as he heard the faint laughter of the man he was aching for.


	29. [Bunker au pt 3] PolySeed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I think it’d help to stake a claim.” 
> 
> “What’s that going to solve?” John tipped his head down, giving a subtle shake in a form of no, he glanced half heartedly at the closed door, deadbolted she realized. “We can’t share her.”

She was still very much tied up. The rough biting metal of handcuffs replaced with bungee cords from some hapless explorer who probably met their demise when the bombs fell around them three weeks back. 

And that thought sent her reeling. It made the tingling sensation crawling up her fingers from lack of blood flow irrelevant as she realized just how long it had been and how much that had happened. They still had a long while to go if Joseph’s prediction of seven years was accurate, equating to having enough time to somehow figuring out how to deal with the growing problem on her hands. Because call her stingy, but having a pair of maniacs like John and Jacob nipping at her heels seemed a little unpleasant considering her situation. Chained and helpless as she was. 

She couldn’t run or hide, and words didn’t do a damn thing unless she threatened to call out for Joseph, which really only seemed to effect John. Jacob would just laugh, sit back on his haunches and smile at her. Tugging her in as close as he could manage with a fist tangled in her hair. He’d present her with sharp teeth that she considered a weapon all on its own. Thinking back on it, maybe Jacob caught the way her eyes lingered on his shark like smile. Either he disregarded her fear or that kinda thing only spurred him on. 

In the end It didn’t really matter what lead her here, in a darker part of the bunker she didn’t even know existed, with John leaning on a wall across from her, Jacob circling around the mattress he had deposited on the middle of the floor before tossing her on the threadbare cotton mess like she weighed nothing.

“I think it’d help to stake a claim.” 

“What’s that going to solve?” John tipped his head down, giving a subtle shake in a form of no, he glanced half heartedly at the closed door, deadbolted she realized. “We can’t share her.”

“Stop acting like a child.” Not really said with the anger she knew Jacob could drag up if wanted. The next few words they spoke, as Jacob huddled in close with his younger brother and whispered softly, were things she couldn’t hear. Not like she didn’t try. She did, she shifted her weight on her side, crushing her bound hands behind her back in the process. It didn’t do much, only leaving her with the sour taste of disappointment on her tongue when she opened her eyes to see John padding his way to her reminiscent of a certain cougar who shared the same name as a felled companion. 

“Do we expect her not to tell Joseph about this? Or what? We hope he won’t notice the marks? This is fucking stupid.” He paused a foot away from her before crouching down. “And pathetic,” His head craned up to stare at Jacob, considering him, “When did you get so desperate?”

That made Jacob laugh, because of course it did. A man like him wouldn’t readily admit to going soft, and if he did, it’d be disguised with layers of self loathing and sarcasm.

“I’m not desperate. Just thinking ahead.” He paused, joining John to get down beside him. “I’ve seen the way Joseph looks at you pup.” He whistled lowly, “Yeah he wants you bad, but he wants to wait, not sure for what, the world already fucking ended.” He reached out a hand, trailing it down her jaw before going for the collar of her shirt, pulling each button undone until it hung open. “I think some jealousy would help move things along.”

He glanced at John, as if what he was about to do to her was even up for debate. 

“That’s cruel.” The retort sounded weak even to her own ears. Spoken In a low crackly voice. 

“You don’t know my brother like I do. He’ll live.” Jacob stood, hand resting on his hip, pulling his shirt back enough to reveal a dirty gun, chipped and worn. “Strip her John.”

John’s hands lingered when he did exactly what his brother asked. Closing around her waist and brushing fingers along the underside of her breast. Running through her mound as he wrestled off her panties.

He wasted no time getting on top of her. Holding her down with her on her back, hands getting pressed against her own body and the mattress. “Stay still.” He pushed down harder on her, wrapping his body with hers. That kept her rooted firmly in place, with her squirming, shifting as Jacob stayed kneeled in front of her. Grabbing her chin to raise her head up to look at him. 

His eyes were sharp, intuitive, locking onto her neck, mapping out an area that he could layer dark with bruises. 

“I’m assuming you want first dibs.” Jacob mumbled, not bothering to look up at John from where he still sat on top of her. The only response he got was something between a grunt and growl before she felt John press his weight further down on her, his warmth making her tremble as he tucked his face into the crook of her neck. 

Rook felt the gentle press of teeth, soft and curious, simply exploring before they prodded at her. He nipped at the side of her throat, sucking skin into his mouth as he grazed over it with sharper teeth meant to leave marks. 

Jacob didn’t wait for his brother to pull away, he was smart, knew Joseph would soon wonder where Rook wandered off too in her tied up state. They didn’t have all day. The bites he peppered across her neck was more distinct. They weren’t as hesitant, though he was out of practice, he was enthusiastic. Almost confident. 

Between the two of them they left her with a ring of purple and black stretching over her throat. Marks strangling over her adams apple and her right side. 

All at once John’s weight lifted from her back, being helped up and off of her by Jacob, who rose with a grunt. “Thinking we just put her back where we found her, handcuff her to the bed.”

“Aren’t we telling Joseph?”

Jacob laughed, something soft and secretive she didn’t like. He hefted her to her feet, grabbing at her elbow and drawing her in near to his side. “Let him figure it out, it’ll give us time to think of some explanation to tell him.” And at the rightful look of concern on John’s face, as if he just realized there might be consequences, Jacob smiled, “I’ll handle him. He can lecture me if he really wants.” 

He jostled her, tugging her out the door when John swung it open. “You’re not looking too worse for wear honey. You’ll be fine.”

*****

“You’re not...You’re far from okay.” His voice was strained. Pulled tight and uncomfortable as he leaned in closer, a hand--always gentle--resting on her cheek and exposing her neck to him. 

“It could be worse Joseph.”

He hummed in the back of his throat, rubbing a soothing thumb over the bruises, or hickeys, though when she called them that he visibly winced. “I suppose it could be. You could have no neck at all.”

She bit her tongue at his dramatics. She herself was yet to see John and Jacob’s handiwork, it could be awful. But it’d fade eventually. 

“They can’t mark you like an animal. Here, in Eden, we are all equal.” He bowed his head against hers, a sigh of utter frustration leaving his lips. “If you’re in no pain--”

“I already told you I’m not.”

“Then I guess there’s no harm done.” Joseph smiled at her, something that looked at if it was meant to comfort her. “I need to have a word with my brothers. Something needs to be said, or done.”

She shifted where she sat on the concrete, fingers clenching into fists from where they were locked into the bed frame. “Is that necessary?”

He backed off slowly, folding his palms in front of him for a second. “Trust me child, it’s not for your benefit, the reasons I have are not totally selfless.”


	30. [Angel Rook pt 5] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a flash of confusion before he replaced her hand with his. Searching with gentle hands and sighing softly when his fingers met one of her feathers hanging tight to his hair. “Does it suit me?” He teased, offering a wider smile than before with the tilt of his head.

She was leaving a trail. And Jacob--the man trying his absolute best to shape her into a hunter to rival his skill set--would not be proud. The job she was doing was sloppy and uncoordinated. Not like that was all her fault. 

It started last week. A loose feather here and there that she would pluck out if it caught her attention, much like someone would with a strand of hair. But that was a month ago and now it was worse. With her trekking through Peggie territory with feathers lining her path perfectly. It was sure to be the death of her.

That thought crossed her mind fleetingly when she heard the crack of a twig behind her and she found herself staring down Joseph Seed. 

He was standing a foot away—making her question how on earth he was so damn quiet—with a hand placed on his bare hip, glasses fitted on his nose and hiding his eyes from view. He gave a slow wave with a raised hand, gaze sweeping down her form as he did so. Landing on her wings before gesturing again with his hand, a curled fist she realized. That drew her attention, made her look just a little bit closer to see what he held in his tight grip. 

A bundle of feathers. Ranging from a dark blue to a downy white. 

She had a small hunch that wasn’t from any bird, collected on his nature walk soon to be made into arrows. 

“Whatcha got there Seed?” Rook tried for casual, she wasn’t in the mood to fight, not when he caught her off guard. He found her on a strange day.

Joseph huffed a laugh, something civil and normal falling between them.

He was bold in taking a few steps forward, a smile staying present on his face as he neared. “A gift, however unintentional on your part.” In the silence that followed, with her blinking owlishly at his words, he deigned to explain further, “You left me a trail. Something to align our paths.” He turned his wrist left and right, inspecting the fallen feathers that her traitorous wings had shed. “They are beautiful, I think you should know.”

Rook nodded once, neck turning to the foliage around her to find some way out of this situation that wouldn’t end with her drop kicking Joseph to get him out of her way. Because she could only act nice for so long before she began to realize once again that this man was an enemy of the worst kind. 

With him standing in front of her, invading her space like they were old buddies, her heart rate picked up that small amount. Pounding out an awful tune when he brandished the feathers to her, holding them up so they’d reflect the sparse sunlight falling down on them through the trees. 

He smiled at her, a slight twitch of his lips that made his eyes brighten. “Did you want them back?”

That made her laugh. Had her doubling over slightly for half a second like he punched her in the gut. He was so polite it hurt. A goddamn cult leader was standing before her asking such stupid questions that made her head spin. 

“No. No, not really.” Rook mumbled, shaking her head. She did reach up though. Brushing the tips of her fingers over the feathers peaking out between Joseph’s curled fist. Her eyes flicked back up to his own, smiling at him in what was probably the first time. “You ah,” she brought her hand up, tapping at the hair near his temple, “Got something right here.” 

There was a flash of confusion before he replaced her hand with his. Searching with gentle hands and sighing softly when his fingers met one of her feathers hanging tight to his hair. “Does it suit me?” He teased, offering a wider smile than before with the tilt of his head. “Perhaps I could use a new look.” He bounced his gaze back downward to the bundled feathers, he shook them at her in what was a show of goodbye, tucking them in the back pocket of his jeans. 

He turned on his heel without another word from her. Surprisingly content with the extent of their interaction. As brief as it was. Though considering it didn’t end with a bliss bullet torn through her flesh, she’d have to call it a win. 

*****

“Joseph?”

He kept his head down, working dutifully over the stack of paperwork that had slowly accumulated for the past week. He hummed low in his throat in response to John, unwilling to tear his gaze away from his work despite the strange appearance of his younger brother in his church. 

“What exactly is that?”

Joseph still kept his head down, making another noise that sounded questioning. 

There was the gentle thumps of John’s footsteps on hardwood. Approaching where Joseph sat on the small podium with scattered papers around his feet. “This. Why is this in your hair?” Joseph felt John’s thin fingers twirl in his hair, tugging lightly at the strands to draw his attention. 

Suddenly John was thrusting a feather in Joseph’s face, an unimpressed look on his face paired with a scowl. 

“It was a gift.” Joseph blinked once. Twice. Not willing to continue. It seemed personal, something only meant for him, not his family. 

John twirled it around his fingers. “Oh.” He leaned forward to place it back in Joseph’s hair, pulling away slowly to look at his brother with a keen set of eyes. Even if he didn’t believe him, he wasn’t about to call him out. Not when he was shifting uncomfortably where he sat, a sheen of sweat coating his forehead. 

Let the man have his secrets.

*****

Jacob paused where he stood, stopping his footsteps and grunting in a minor show of anger when Pratt slammed into his back at the sudden stop.

He allowed Joseph to draw their heads together in an act of love, cringing when he felt the wisps of a dark blue feather brush against his skin. Up this close he could see the distinct pattern of light brown spots and how the blue fanned out and faded. It was nothing like any bird he had ever saw. 

“It’s good to see you again.” Jacob said, eyes zoning in on the feather, “You take up hunting now? You gonna finally come out with me some time?” He felt a swell of pride to see Joseph laugh. A genuine sound that made Jacob relax, falling into step beside Joseph as they walked his compound. 

“If I did Jacob, I’d still have to refuse your offer.”

“Come on, looks like your a pro.” Jacob risked reaching up, touching the tip of the feather. “That’s a clean cut, looks like you skinned that bird damn well.”

Joseph shrugged, something secretive in his smile. “You hunt wolves and bears brother. I’m not risking my life for a new rug.” He had hints of amusement bleeding into his words, and though Jacob didn’t actually think the feather came from a hunting trip, he was happy to pretend if it kept Joseph joking around with him like they were kids again. 

“Next time bring me along at least, I can tone it down a bit. Hunt birds with you until the sun sets.” He wrangled Joseph in close when they disappeared inside, out of sight and peacefully in their own world for a moment.

*****

Faith pressed in close to Joseph, eyes wide with wonder as he grabbed at her hand to tug her along through a field. “That’s beautiful Father.”

Joseph smiled softly, head tipping down, he didn’t need to ask what she was referring to after the encounters with his brothers. Maybe the new addition to his ensemble was more overt than he first thought.

“It makes you look angelic.” She giggled, swinging around and grabbing at both of his hands to pull him along faster. 

“Thank you Faith.” He was safest with her not knowing where such a feather had come from. She had the least interaction with Rook, there was no way she knew how the deputy’s wings were colored. Something he could be thankful of in the moment.

Faith returned back to his side, swinging their hands back and forth between them. A silence had settled in the air that made him calmer. Allowed him to focus on the subtle breeze rustling the black vest he was wearing. 

He squeezed at Faith’s hand, listening attentively to her next words before they were lost to the wind. “I think you should preach like that. With the feather in your hair, center your next sermon around the resources we have and how to accept what God has given us.” 

Joseph smiled at her words. His own mind spinning into what he knew what going to be brought up when he stood before his flock. It’d no doubt be doused heavily with scripture and talk about the impending Collapse, but on terms of this new development. He wouldn’t dare speak down upon Rook as he had in the past, calling her the Whitehorse bringing hell. Next time he would speak of how she was to lead them all to the gate, as a true angel sent from the heavens.

It’s about time Eden’s Gate learned of the existence of their very own divine figure.


	31. [a/b/o pt 4] PolySeed/Rook

Joseph was a breath of fresh air. A calming force to balance out Jacob’s crazy. He still controlled her, held her on the shortest of leashes possible, but he was careful. Not hesitant, he could care less that his brother was in his living space, invading his privacy, he was flaunting her. Showing off the amount of power he held over her.

It’d be embarrassing if her heat didn’t make her brain turn to mush. 

“Just like that pup.” Jacob’s large hand encompassed her throat, rubbing over the flesh as he pushed himself in deeper. Groaning when she gagged and her muscles tightened around him. “You’re taking me so well.” 

The praise had Rook whining. Squirming on the bed, lying on her back, hips bucking up in the air, desperate for stimulation. Jacob’s fist curled in the blankets to keep his knees from buckling when a rush of pleasure ran through him. Her tongue was swirling around his head, teeth softly teasing at his shaft. 

They weren’t being quiet, the wet squelching noises could be heard by anyone who passed by his office. Jacob was trying to be loud. Groaning out curse words at each draw back as Rook’s cheeks hollowed out. With his pants pooled around his feet, boots catching them, it’d be obvious to anyone who walked in what they were doing. That’s what he was hoping for. About time Joseph learned his place, learned that some people really enjoyed their privacy.

Rook knew not to stop even when the door creaked open, she kept her mouth wrapped around him, allowed him to fuck her throat despite the new presence lingering in the room. 

“Brother.” 

Jacob craned his neck around to meet Joseph’s gaze. A lazy grin stretching wide over his lips. “Yeah?”

“May I ask what you think you’re doing?”

He laughed low in his throat, grabbing at Rook’s cheeks and drawing her in closer so she could take him deeper. “I’m getting serviced.” He heard Rook whine at that, not too keen on him using words that made her sound like a cheap hooker.

“Do you normally treat your new recruits like this?” It was a sharp jab at his skills as a soldier, one that made Jacob scoff.

“Only the cute high profile ones such as our deputy.” He thrusted in, brushing the back of her throat in the process. Her hands flew up to his thighs, still held in jeans with only his cock pulled out. She clawed at his legs when he moved a tad bit faster. Chasing that end now that he got the audience he wanted.

“She’s been through worse, she can take this.”

Joseph hummed, hands behind his back as he paced around the room. Eyes kept locked on them, not able to catch Rook’s gaze with the position Jacob had her lie in. “Has she now?”

“Mhm.” Jacob groaned lowly, a soft praise rolling off his lips that only Rook could hear. “She’s taken my cock before, and I’ve been rougher than this. Gotta be, she’s a needy one during her heat.”

Joseph stiffened at Jacob’s words, falling down in a seat and pressing his hands in his lap, pushing down on his erection like that would make it go away. 

The movement wasn’t lost on Jacob, and it had him moving faster, being louder. Doing anything that would make his brother come unhinged. Make him doubt his decision to watch over Rook, she wasn’t a damsel in distress, and the scene Joseph walked in on a few days ago wasn’t the worst punishment he could have given. 

“Keep taking me like that darling. God,” His hand brushed over the bulge on her throat showing off his cock, “You’re doing so well pup. Gonna make me cum.”

That was the only warning she got before he was spilling down her throat. Coating the inside of her mouth in his seed with slow rolls of his hips until the brush of her tongue made him shudder with sensitivity. 

“Satisfied?”

Jacob smiled, all teeth as he raked his eyes over his brother, who now had his legs crossed with fists curled up on his crotch. Oh so obvious in what he was hiding. 

“I really am. You should try it sometime.”

“Try what?” There was a note of vehemence in his tone as he shifted. “Starting a harem? Should I grab the women of Eden’s Gate and store them in my own bunker like my personal playthings waiting for the end? Is that what God intended?” Joseph pressed his hands harsher down on his throbbing cock, hissing out through his teeth as he stood.

Jacob eased his dick out of Rook’s mouth, patting at her cheek, a signal of well done that allowed her to roll over on her stomach, to finally relax and rest her head against one of the pillows he had.

“I’m not looking for your approval Joe.”

He nodded once, curt and short. “Yeah. I could've guessed that Jacob.” He swallowed harshly, adams apple bobbing roughly as he turned his eyes on Rook’s sleeping form. “I trust your judgment brother, however clouded it is becoming, don’t make me regret your choices on how you decide to watch over the deputy. She needs to be ready by the time the Collapse comes. She’s important.” 

Jacob waved a dismissive hand, falling back next to where Rook laid. “Go to fucking sleep Joseph, got a busy day tomorrow, my men are already distracted with you hanging around.” He grabbed at a pillow, shoving it under his head and rolling over with tightly closed eyes. Curled up on his side like that it was easy to ignore Joseph’s steaming gaze on his back, he had too much to worry about to get into a petty argument better suited for the youngest of the family. 

*****

Jacob used guiding hands to arrange her, pressing her into a small cage that sat next to his desk. He tightened the blindfold around her eyes, calloused fingers rubbing over her cheeks and jaw almost tenderly. 

His thumb brushed over her lips, which she sucked into her mouth promptly, hiding the smile when he chuckled. The sound was dark and lowered as not to wake up Joseph.

“You always remind me why you’re my favorite.” His thumb pulled out of her mouth with a pop. Her mouth hung open, forced further apart when he pressed in a gag that had her coughing. “Take it pup, show me what you’re made of.” 

He pulled his hands out of the cage, latching it up with a small click. “You’re mine, don’t let Joseph make you think otherwise when I’m gone.” That was the only goodbye she was going to get before he was gone. Leaving her locked in a doggie cage, bare as the day she was born, waiting for Joseph to wake in the bed across the room, nerves building because there was no way he was going to be okay with how his brother decided to lock her up. 

Turns out, he wasn’t too happy. She noticed that from the curse that fell from his lips. There was a brief scuffle, him hurrying to get out of bed she realized, then his bare feet were moving quick against the tiled floor. Rook jumped when he slammed down beside the cage, which rattled when he must’ve grabbed hold of the bars.

“I’m not angry with you.”

His soft spoken voice seemed too loud in the quiet room. It was so different than what she was used to with Jacob, not as deep or demanding, so sense of urgency in it. And the scent was all wrong. It was sour, making her cringe back into a corner with the pure disappointment in his scent.

She flinched when his fingers ghosted over the blindfold, pushing it up and off, stealing it away before she could protest. “I can’t be angry with you when I was the one who put you in this situation.” He locked onto her eyes fiercely, grabbing her attention with the intensity that was there. “I didn’t want you to be another one of Jacob’s soldiers, no, you’re more than that. But it makes me question if this is a better alternative.”

It had to be. She wanted to grab hold of his face and pull him near, scream at him to open his fucking eyes and look at what everyone else around her was going through. That this, being with Jacob during the throws of her heat, was infinitely better than the hell he would’ve put her through. The tests and trials would have broken her. That she was sure of.

Though she kept her mouth shut. Closed it up tight and let Joseph work through whatever mess was running through his own fucked up head. 

“Overall I suppose I apologize.”

She bit her tongue on the ‘suppose’ part of that. Just bit her lip and nodded down to the blindfold that he held loosely in his hand. Fiddling with the fabric and clenching it tight when she spoke. “I’m gonna need that back. Jacob he…” She trailed off, he saw how his brother was with her. Leaving it off wouldn’t put her in the best of positions.

With her vision gone she was tossed back in utter darkness. Able to only listen to the sound of Jacob’s men waking up and the prisoners being subjected to torture that chilled her to her bones. If it was ultimately Joseph that saved her from that hell she might have to consider actually thanking the man.


	32. [Omegaverse pt 3] PolySeed/Rook

John was shaking out of his skin. Jittery and jumpy, unable to lie still for a second. He had been pacing back and forth for the better half of an hour. Uneasy even behind the relative safety of the closed doors of his bedroom. 

Sweat made his hair plaster to his forehead, the blankets that once covered his bed had been long since tossed on the floor with a grunt when he finally threw himself down and resigned himself to the fact that his heat was fully upon him. Overtaking his body and making every small action that more difficult.

It was times like these that made him question Joseph’s decision to not allow suppressants at their commune. Though if John really pleased he could have them shipped from far away on some plane. No doubt he’d be happier, more able to function and show his face outside. But he wasn’t stupid, he knew anyone would be able to smell the drugs in his system for miles. 

“Fuck.” He tossed his head back, grabbing at the pillow he rested on to shove over the bulge in his jeans. Pressing tight against the material of his pants, throbbing with each subtle movement. 

Everything hurt, each and every limb was sore and aching. Most notably his cock. Hard ever since he woke two hours earlier. The shower he took--cold water that made his teeth clench-- doing nothing to ease his stiff body. God, not to mention his nose. So perceptive and ready to scent out anyone willing enough. 

He was weak, so fucking weak. Has been since he was old enough to scout out the sleaziest of college parties and fill his nighttime memories with darkened bars. Temptation was cruel, a constant taunt when his heat set in, snapping at his mind and urging him to get up and find someone to release everything in his body that was wound up tight. There was something inside him screaming for a mate to bed down. And that thought made him sick, had him shaking worse than he had in the following days leading up to all this. 

There were hundreds of things he could do to skate by cleanly through his heat that didn’t lead him down a rough patch of sin.

Yet only one option seemed halfway appealing. 

God help him, but if Jacob or Joseph knew what he was doing they would personally haul him over their shoulders and tie him down to stop him from making a fool of himself. They all knew how he acted in his heat, that the lust driven in his blood was so fucking strong that not tending to it left him angry. A wrathful man waiting to pounce on anyone who would dare get in his way.

Never before had someone caught his attention so brazenly that they were the first to come to mind in viable partners he could sink his teeth into. He had an opportunity to get rid of that itch coiling low in his gut and he was taking it.

Maybe a little unethically, sure, but he could worry about that guilt later.

“Hello, John Seed speaking, may I request deputy Rook?” He leaned back in the bed of the Eden’s Gate issued pickup. Eyes closing against the sun and phone pressing tight to his ear hard enough to leave a mark from the plastic.

Two minutes later filled with sweet words laced with just the right amount of whine and he had the deputy in question driving towards him with the thought that he was in trouble. A poor omega with no gas in the tank and wolves circling in. 

Like he said, unethical. 

He smelled her long before she reached his location. Some spot far from home on the other side of the Valley, bordering on the edge of the mountains that his brother seemed to love so much. 

Already his pants were undone, belt hanging loose with his zipper drawn down. In the low light of the nighttime he didn’t have to worry about any hang ups about charges for public indecency. And he didn’t need to worry about Rook questioning why he was sitting out in the middle of nowhere with his cock out.

Because it was drawn out of his jeans, fabric cutting into his shaft with the calluses on his fingertips rubbing at his skin. The soft breeze ruffling his hair only served to make his heated skin all the more sensitive, having him squirm where he sat when another rush of her scent came at him. It was meant to be soothing he assumed, a smell she probably used a dozen times a day to deescalate the situations she was faced with. God, did it work. It made him keen low in his throat before she could even get a word out.

“John?” Her voice was hesitant, easy and smooth too. “You alright? Are you hurt?” She asked softly, confusion lacing her voice when he moaned maybe a little too loud. “You smell...off.” She cringed when she said it, praying he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. She did keep malice out of her voice, drenched her tone in concern as she neared him with a sweeping glance around the area.

“I called our lovely sheriff's department requesting assistance because I was afraid for my life officer.” 

She bit back a laugh on that familiar saying, something told to her when she first met the man. “That’s not fear I’m smelling. We both know that.”

“No?” He tipped his head, a look of innocence crossing his features. “Then what is it?”

Rook wasn’t going there, nope, she was certainly not answering his questions and she definitely wasn’t letting her eyes dip down to where his hands were seated in his lap. “You can’t take up a deputy’s time for a booty call, that’s gotta be illegal.”

He laughed, something strained and tight, “Amuse me Rook, c’mere.” He gestured loosely with his hand, a sign for her to close the small gap she had left between her and the bed of the truck he was seated in. She did listen though, a part of her cursed alpha brain urged her feet to move forward, to at least have a closer look on the needy omega presenting himself to her. 

“And what do you expect me to do? I’ve got more people in this county to serve than you and your family.” 

“Coulda fooled me, with how many times you show up at our commune.”

Rook climbed up on the truck, making the bed dip and jostle as she sat on her knees. “Only because you a damn troublemaker.” She sucked in a breath, chest heaving when she caught sight of his cock, half pulled out of his jeans and cradled in his hand. Cockhead glistening with a bead of precum that he wasted no time smoothing down on his shaft. 

“You’re having me feel a little jealous, If I must confess, running off to help others.” He blew out a soft puff of air that turned into a low whistle. “But if I must be hung up on a few charges of improper use of the police service just to see you--” he laughed again, dark and rough around the edges, “Well I’m confident that would make both our lives a lot more exciting.”

She eased herself away before she did anything stupid, something stupid like shove him down on his back and pin his hand above his head, use the cuffs on her waistband to bind him so he couldn’t fight back. It’d be foolish but oh so good to hear him whimper beneath her and cry out when she sank her teeth into his neck.

But no, she was leaving with nothing but a parting glance at what he had between his thighs and practically running to her police cruiser a little breathless from what she just saw. Before she pulled away and spun her car around she made sure to file that police report, a small charge he’d be notify later on that he’d be sure to clear up before it stained his pristine record. 

*****

Joseph shouldn’t have invited her, simple as that. Not when his heat drew near, probably spurred on by the alphas in his flock experiencing the same thing. 

It was stupid to stand in front of his flock in the first place when half the day was spent with him achingly hard in his jeans. Praying down in his knees for strength when she showed. Praying that he wouldn’t lose the small reserve of self control he somehow still had. 

It was a test, that’s what he told himself over and over again on repeat inside his head as he adjusted the collar for what was the fifth time.

“Father?”

Joseph’s shoulders hiked up around his neck, back muscles tensing as he hummed in response.

“Deputy Rook has arrived, she’s asked for you.”

He breathed out slow, a murmur of thanks falling from his lips before the door was shut and he could relax again. He’d have to apologize later for his behavior, not exactly angry, but not as patient as he ought to be. And that made him more on edge then his heat already was doing to him.

How could he not be on edge? He was still fucking hard, a thick line pressed into his jeans for a goddamn hour. And knowing that he could ease the pain, get some relief and earn enough time for his cock to soften so he could preach to his people all by just touching himself, it was driving him wild.

And making him inch closer to a breakdown. 

He was nearing his mid-forties, he felt like he should be able to control his body more than he was. Yet here he was, standing in his room in front of his mirror, not wanting to delay his service more than he already had.

The knock that came at the door a second later made him curse. Hands falling down to his jeans, rubbing at the bulge there in consideration before the knock came again, harsher, more insistent. 

When he swung the door open he stumbled, forced back with a hand pressed to the center of his chest. Only when the door was kicked shut behind them both could his eyes focus to see who had intruded on him.

“Jesus Joseph, could smell you from a mile away. Fuck, look at you, you poor thing.” She was in his space, shoving her body into his, grabbing him by the nape of his neck and making him fit perfectly into her curves. The treatment--so fucking sweet--made his mind numb to her blatant blasphemy. “Oh, darling.” She mumbled when he keened low in his throat, head tipping back for the first time in what must’ve been years to expose his throat. “You could’ve called me. You offered help for me, let me pay it forward.”

His head bobbed back into place, he rubbed at his neck almost self consciously. Cheeks turning pink as he breathed out. “You are turning out to be quite the sin. Such a temptation for my brothers and I.” There was a softness in his eyes though when he pulled her in, glad for the scent of an alpha that she gave so freely. Guiding his nose right to her scent gland until he was resting in the crook of her neck, knees so close to giving out.

“I’m sure your people would understand you not giving a sermon Joseph, they all seem like nice people, people who wouldn’t want you to risk your health in the way that you are.”

“You’re right about that.” He mumbled, eyes snapped shut as a rush of guilt hit him. He’s seen how his people were quick to dote on him whenever his heat struck. They were just as kind and understanding as he always was to them, they wouldn’t be angry, but he would be. He’d be pissed at himself for being weak. “But I wanted you to be here, I wanted you to see what Eden’s Gate it.” He pulled back quick, hands going to her shoulder to steady himself. “Not just to acquiesce everyone’s misconceptions about us, not that I would complain, but I wanted you to experience what we are all about. To see how good we are.”

He was whining, a low whimper making her cringe at how tired he sounded. “Sweetheart,” she reached up to stroke at his cheek, rubbing back and forth until he allowed her to coax him onto his mattress, bare save for one pillow and a thin blanket.

Rook filled his vision when she knelt down, hand pressed on his shoulder when he protested. “They’ll survive without you Joseph. One hour, I’ll still be here.”

“Promise?”

As childish as it was Rook reached out to link her pinky with his, “Promise.” 

***** 

Jacob had the cops called on him more times in his life than he can really count. Times when he was a young boy on the verge of man hood warding off bullies with nothing better to do in the slow Georgia summer time. Those brutal years warped into the awful aftermath where he was fresh out of the Army thrown on the streets to rot and he was faced with men turned animals in the rundown homeless centers he bounced between. It had been years since he had any sort of run in with the law, though that was probably because John was always standing by his side.

Not like his brother could be seen now. The compound that was steadily getting built was left to his command for the day, not like he didn’t have his own project going on up North, but he trusted his men. That left him overseeing the families that Joseph normally looked after. Those people weren’t the problem, the citizens of Hope County were. 

Because no one in this damn place could mind their own business apparently. They showed up at the gate welding fucking rifles and shotguns when even he had the foresight to stow away his own blood red sniper. They had children here after all. Families. And now he had a hoard of crazies on his hand outside the gate wanting in. Wanting a word with Joseph too--who wasn't fucking here right now--not like him saying that deterred them. 

Someone in the back of the crowd yelled at him to get his brother’s crazy ass here right now. After that he couldn’t really remember much. 

“You shouldn’t have been left alone, in charge of all these people, so close to your rut Jacob. Don’t make me recite some sex ed textbook from high school.”

Jacob glared at the tiny deputy in front of him, chest puffing out in defiance when he caught a rush of her scent. There was nothing more that he hated than feeling as if he wasn’t in control of his body. Fighting with his instinct put him off his game, it made him snap when he shouldn’t have. Made him expose the kind of omega that he was. The brutal angry kind that made people shy away in confusion, because he obviously didn’t come out right. Having all that rage and dominance in him and not having alpha blood pumping through his veins. 

“Beat that man bloody from what I saw.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Fucking impressive.” She threw him a wink as she pulled at his hand, inspecting the damage done to his knuckle. 

“They had guns, were waving them around. Starting scaring people, started scaring the kids. Power hungry men like that with too much fucking testosterone. No good for anyone.”

Rook nodded once, cheeks flushing as she breathed in deep, more hot and bothered then she was letting on it seemed. That had Jacob smiling, flash sharp teeth, this changed things. Made it easy for him to fall back on top where he felt most comfortable.

“Oh yeah?” He laughed, dark and low as he stepped into her personal space. He flexed his fingers, watched her hold tight to his forearm. “You liked that huh?” His own scent swelled out between them, had Rook swaying on her feet imagining how wet and wanting Jacob could be for her. “Must be rough having to be the alpha female all day long.”

She smiled, something dreamy flitting across her face. “And it must be tiring for you needing to act strong all day long, Seed.” Her eyes skipped over his body, pausing at where he was already getting hard in his jeans. “Looks like both of us could benefit from a change in pace.” She squeezed his finger tips, pressing a kiss to his bloody knuckles, sucking one in her mouth and biting down hard with a growl. “But for now,” all at once she was stepping away, letting go of his hand which flopped uselessly by his side, “I think you should call your brother, you guys need a lesson on how to stay outta trouble.”

He bit back his response, let her turn on her heel and walk away, leaving him alone to tend to his wounds in relative peace. The way she left it open had his mind spinning, wanting to call out to her, to ask her “Is that an offer deputy?” He only realized he spoke aloud--too damn drunk on adrenaline--when she froze in her movements in glanced over her shoulder with a smile tipping her lips up.

His walls came up quickly in the moments of silence that followed. It made him look away with arms crossed over his chest.

“I’ll think about it Jacob, no promises.”


	33. [Bunker au pt 4] PolySeed/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seeds trying to win Rook over with their cooking, which they are all horrible at

It had to be a trap. Some way to trick her or warp her mind further than they already had. Because the Seeds didn’t do nice. It just wasn’t in their nature. Maybe that was why Jacob looked so damn agitated.

“What’s the catch?” Rook eyed Joseph from across the room, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall. “A celebration?” She asked, playing for sarcastic since it was the most comfortable, something familiar that she could fall back on. “Someone getting married, maybe having a baby?”

The snort that came from Joseph was undignified and human. Strangely comfortable as he pulled her closer to his side when he crossed the room, an arm draped around her shoulder as he led her towards the table in their tiny kitchen.

“Consider it an apology. A way to break the tension that we all must feel.”

Her eyes went wide as she gazed up at the two of them from where she sat in the wooden chair Joseph led her to. “An apology.” She parroted the words, almost willing them to sink into her mind fully. 

Joseph nodded quick, a bird like jerk that made his bun loosen just a tad. 

Her hands shook when she reached out to grab at a stray fork on to the left of a steaming hot dish. They fully expected her to eat, to at least show that she was accepting this ‘apology.’ She could do that, even if the food looked like a pile of off white mush. Her hand trembled only slightly when she raised it to her lips to take a bite.

It tasted awful.

That was her first thought when she bit down. There was a splash of something way too juicy, something that exploded like a fruit and not how meat should react.

When she glanced back up, hesitance in her eyes--which were tearing up at the edges at the sudden spice that exploded in her mouth--she noticed how Jacob was fucking smiling. As much as shes ever seen at least, an uptick of the corners of his lips, chin raised slightly like he was proud of the abomination he had placed before her.

“Who made this?” She asked, words muffled when she chipmunked the glob of food to the right side of her mouth. She jabbed at the food piled on her plate with her fork, frowning when there wasn’t an immediate response. 

Jacob stepped closer, hands placed firmly on the table as he leaned in closer to inspect the disgust on her face. “I’d say it was a team effort.” He glanced at Joseph, smiling wider, “Right Joe?”

Joseph slipped into a seat beside her, rubbing at her knuckles from where her palm laid flat on the table. Nodding in agreement as his eyes flicked over her face. “Well?”

She swallowed--fucking finally--and promptly placed her fork down. Visibly shuddering at the taste that came after. “It’s the thought that counts.” She whispered, head down and moving to stand. Rook was backpedaling out of the room, into her own to escape the steaming pile of shit they served to her.

She really only had God to thank for the fact that John wasn’t present. No doubt he wouldn’t take that kind of reaction well.

***** 

“You should have told me.”

“Not like anyone was hiding it from you John.”

“Yeah,” He rolled his shoulders, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, “But everyone knew except for me.” He huffed out angrily, head hanging down as he grabbed at her thigh through the blanket, “You should have told me,” He reiterated softly.

“Well I’m sorry.” Sarcasm, absolute sarcasm dripping off her voice. 

If he detected any insensarity he didn’t show it. Only huffed angrily, “As you should be.” He leaned closer, holding out a spoon to her, “Let me, please, they had their turn, showed you how good they can be, I can do that too.” His voice dropped down to a whisper, something coaxing in his voice as he drew her in with a hand shifting to the nape of her neck. 

Her nose scrunched up at the initial taste. A sickly sweet sauce coated her tongue, along with chunks mixed in that she couldn’t identify. 

“There you go, see? We can get along.”

“When you’re not pinning me down and marking me up.” She snapped, pushing away from him, “Yeah, we make a good team.”

He sighed, making it long and drawn out with a roll of his eyes. “I can be good.” John said gently, scooting closer from where he sat on the edge of the bed, eating up the distance she just put between them. “I can make this good.” He gestured to the air around the both of them. “My brothers managed, so can I.” He nodded once in affirmation, a smile gracing his lips as he pressed the spoon into her mouth again.

He fed her every drop from the bowl he held in his lap. Every single bit of the lumpy, lukewarm mess he had created. And she managed to grit her teeth and hide the way she gagged when she swallowed. Because he looked happy. Bouncing where he sat and tapping his foot against the floor as she finished off his meal prepared especially for her. 

“Better than what Joseph and Jacob fed to you this morning?”

His back was turned when he asked the, half turned to place the bowl on the floor to be taken care of later when he felt more inclined to rise from bed to leave her side.

“Yes.”

John laughed, something verging on manic when he faced her again with a tip of his head, making hair fall into his eyes and obscure the emotions there. “You’re so full of bullshit Rook.” It was honest and vulgar and she really wondered why that surprised her so damn much. Yet it did, it made her blink back at him, lips sealed shut when he stood, leaning to smooth her hair back and lay a kiss to her forehead. “We can work on that dear, we have time, time for you to see thing my way, and time for me to think on how to change your mind.”

The way he managed to make that sound like a promise and a threat wrapped in one had her trembling even after he had left her sitting all alone with nothing but her thoughts


	34. [Letters pt 1] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the deputy's high school years she became Joseph's prison pen pal through a school program. Even after Joseph was released from prison, they continued to write each other, encouraging her to move to Hope County, to even become a deputy there.

Her mother was against it from the very start. Up in arms and almost ready to storm her goddamn school for allowing her precious daughter to interact with--what’d she call them?--the degenerates and low lifes plaguing our society.

Just knowing how put off her mother was made it all the more appealing. It had the simple act of sitting at her desk and writing letters feeling so much more taboo. She wouldn’t do drugs or drink alcohol, she wouldn’t dare get a tattoo or dye her hair, but she could speak to a convicted man served by the judicial system and served up on a silver platter for her dull thirteen year old mind to prod at.

Looking at the old letters now, scattered around her, pulled out from a dusty faded box she hasn’t seen since childhood, it brought back some memories. She could barely recognize her slanted way too large handwriting that switched between cursive and script seemingly with no rhyme or reason. She laughed at that, though it got caught in her throat as watery and fierce, it made her wonder how the hell Joseph put up with that for so long.          

His own writing was neat. When she was young she liked to think this mystery man was articulate and smart because of that. Maybe put away on charges that didn’t morph him into one of the dregs of the world like her mother claimed. Surely he must’ve had a good education or even a good job to use the kind of words he was using. To write so thoughtfully.

It made her head spin, him using the kind of words that would make her English teacher proud.

Rook hadn’t put any kind of dates on the letters, so when she began to read she couldn’t keep track of the timeline like she would have liked.

Did Joseph remember this as well as she did? How long did he keep her letters? Surely not as long as she did. With her carefully constructed box housing them beautifully all these years, the only type of fading coming from old age and nothing more.

Her eyes skipped and skimmed over the papers held in her grasp, spread like one would hold a deck of cards. She only read small pieces torn from those scattered sentences from a lifetime ago. No real time to fully read them when she heard the telltale sound of those white vans pull up ten minutes before to the small cabin she called her home in Hope County. They were circling her, closing in and securing the perimeter as if she was truly stupid enough to escape out the back door into the forest.  

The tears in her eyes made the world blurry, though she tried her best to commit the few words she caught to memory.

_….Rook Moule...13 years ol...I don’t think you’re that bad of a man._

That was all it took to make her eyes slam shut. Who knows which number letter this was. From which week or month. Who knew how many letters they sent back and forth for her to make such a bold declaration on his character.

_I’d like to think that you’ll find your family. You didn’t deserve that kind of childhood...I’m not religious...though if it’d be okay...you can say no, if it offends you, but I can pray for you and your brothers. Do you think that’d help Mr. Seed?_

It must’ve helped. Located up above, spanning high past the clouds, her prayers, along with his own, were answered. Although somewhere along the line maybe He misheard her, perhaps something went wrong for Him to bring Joseph back into her life only to drag in the feelings of betrayal with him. Forcing her hand to walk into the white worn out church where she stared down the man looking too close to the crumpled up picture given to Rook by her teacher when they were assigned with this stupid, godforsaken project.

She still remembers the rush of sadness when the year ended, and of course the exhilaration of continuing to write Joseph well out of high school without her mother’s knowledge, when she was turning 18 and so afraid of where she’d end up and he was fresh out of prison for whatever sentence he was serving.

**_You shouldn’t worry about those things, child. Though I wouldn’t lie to you, not when you have been more than forthcoming with me, I was accused. Nothing more than that. Accused and targeted. Society looked me in the eyes, saw where I stood upon my podium and they realized they didn’t like what they heard...I preached on that street corner for weeks...No one wanted to hear the truth, so they locked me away...A public nuisance they claimed. Don’t be like them child, not when you have the rest of your life ahead of you to shape out your own choices._ **

He didn’t force her to move here, that’s what hurt the most. She was there with him, reading and rereading the letters he sent in his life telling of each achievement he reached as she flew through her time in the academy. Those years ago she would sit by an old lamp imaging the ecstasy he felt and the sheer joy at finding his brothers. She was living out his seemingly much more interesting life through his notes, and when he once said she should meet them, she laughed.

Then he mentioned it again. And again.

She laughed when she wrote out--again and again--how she couldn’t. Too busy with family and college, the stress of moving out when she reached the age of 22.

Then his wife and child died.

**_A freak accident...no pain for them, I thank God for that...she was so young, newly born...Samantha was her name, I called her Sammy...God gifted me my brothers... my brothers were finally uncles...and He took my wife and child from me, from them too...I don’t know what I’m doing here without them. I’m listless and tired, so very tired Rook._ **

He asked one more time.

**_Please...Darling, I can’t...by the grace of God...I don’t know how you continue to reject...Please, child._ **

Suddenly he sounded so very desperate. Urgent too, like he couldn’t bear the thought of her saying no one more time. Perhaps what she wrote next would be the one thing that would either break him or build him back up to the lively man he used to be in his letters and around his people.  

Rook was 25. Out of her parents hair for good now, living not so near to where he relocated, far away from Georgia when another run in with the cops proved to be the last straw. Another accusation. A missing person. He didn’t answer her questions when she asked about it, always changing the subject on that topic.

**_Hope County! Doesn’t that sound nice? So very beautiful. It is the perfect place to settle down with my flock...you’re far from me now, and that thought hurts more than I first imagined._ **

Letter after letter arrived. Folded pictures soon began to accompany each one, neatly tucked away in the off white envelope. She held the dozens of photos in her hands amongst all the worn paper. The first one that caught her attention showed the start of his church, a halfway built wooden house with a sun glare on the top right corner. The scenery and wildlife came next, so many pictures detailing just how pretty Montana was, how different it was from their shared state. And pictures of him.

Joseph by himself, tucked away in his church that finally finished construction. Him with all sorts of people from his congregation, mothers and fathers, young children that he cradled in his arms that she assumed eased the pain of the loss of his daughter.

Only one picture of him and his brothers. Joseph smiling with pressed lips, crows feet showing his age. A man off to his right, the only one who dared to show teeth in his smile, tipping his head down slightly, as if scared of the camera. Another who glared at the lens like it was a challenge, hand holding on tight to Joseph’s shoulder so hard she could see how his knuckles were turning white. All three men had a secretive gleam in their eyes, the same shade of blue she noted. They were squinting from whoever had decided to take a picture from an angle that made the sun shine out in front of them, probably the same one who wanted the Montana wilderness to be shown in the background.

_I’m happy for you Joseph.  You look happy and healthy with your family….Montana's far, from where you grew up though, a nice escape I guess._

Then his reply, asking if that was a yes to his unanswered question. If she was coming to Hope County. He would pay for her flights, her car ride right to the front door of his church. He’d get her a confirmed spot in the nearby police department.

He painted a wonderful picture along with the literal ones she stockpiled.

“Just fucking forgot to mention you’re a fucking murderer who should've stayed in prison.”

She wiped at her eyes. Scrubbing furiously until she could see again. Until she could clearly make out the mess she left for Joseph to find. Because no doubt he was out there with the rest of his men, standing beside his brothers and the acquired sister he picked up out of nowhere who he also failed to mention---amongst other things.

He loved her. That’s what he claimed. He adored her like she was his own flesh and blood, If she hadn’t heard the reports on him, all the files she poured over about the fanatical religious figure plaguing the county, they might’ve had something akin to a father daughter relationship that could’ve grown into something wonderful.   

He messed it up, destroyed the picturesque life she imagined having once she left her home town in Georgia for the rolling hills of Hope County.

Rook felt betrayed and so fucking angry. He told her of how he preached to those who were lost, and she admired that. He played her like a cheap kazoo and fully expected her to run into his arms like so many had before her.

She sympathized with him, formed something she didn’t want to be destroyed. Though how the fuck was she supposed to be accepted into his family when it was based on piles upon piles of corpses and fountains of blood that started way before she entered the county.

It hurt. He hurt her worse than he even realized.

Rook wanted to make him pay for that. So with fumbling hands she lit the match that she had discarded off to the side, as if she was going to change her mind after reading through those letters. All it served to do was tear into her again, it made her relive the good and bad in a span of ten minutes.

The fire sparked and caught on the gasoline she poured around her before she opened that damn box filled with deceitful lies. She rocked back and forth on her knees, head bowed down as the flames grew around her, eating into the wood perfectly. Painting a pretty picture for anyone standing outside who were watching the carnage.

The perfect way to make him hurt just as bad as he hurt her.

Take what he apparently loved the most. Stealing it away from him so rapidly in an act that he was no doubt scrambling to stop.

If praying worked all those years before, she hoped God could hear her out one more time. This last and most crucial time in all her life. She prayed dearly for Him to cut Joseph Seed’s heart out, to steal from him until his mind came shattering down.


	35. [Letters pt 2] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the deputy's high school years she became Joseph's prison pen pal through a school program. Even after Joseph was released from prison, they continued to write each other, encouraging her to move to Hope County, to even become a deputy there. From Joseph POV this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Running low on requests, any ideas? Feel free to comment them below!

Of course he recognized her. It was hard not to with the recent picture she sent to him, arriving three weeks before she even stepped foot into Hope County. A smiling face that was obscured by long hair, hidden from his view, like she was afraid of the camera. 

So yes, he did pinpoint her as that child turned young lady who stood in front of him wielding handcuffs and following someone else's orders. He expected her, had been absolutely elated at the letter he received. A thank you of sorts.

_ The trip was long...one train later, a way too long car ride and two planes and I’m finally in Montana, looks like we’re back to sharing the same state, feels good huh? Still miles from Hope County...so much to do, going to be busy for a while before I can see you in person...gotta unpack and head down to that police department, I start right away. _

Joseph almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. How could he have missed all the signs in her letter? He saw those red flags and treated them like checkpoints.

_ Some arrest they want me to be apart of...we’ll have our names in the paper! That’s what they’re claiming...pretty high profile, supposed to be an in and out arrest, provided no one puts up a fight, don’t worry about me, I know how you get...I don’t even have time to read the files, gotta be briefed in the ride down there...it’s a good start, not too bad for a junior deputy...never would have caught a case like this down in Georgia, gotta hand it to you Joseph, you sure know where to set up camp. _

And tucked away inside that envelope was a coin of all things, a quarter worn away by rust and the years that it held. Letters were fading from the silver, but the words ‘Georgia 1788’ stood out on the top. Below that, a banner suspended in the metal. Wisdom. Justice. Moderation. A peach in the center of it all.

A token from home, one that he stored away in his back pocket from then on. He laid it inside the drawer of his desk when he slept, along with the dozens of letters he had allocated over the years.

He kept them close throughout his life. Why wouldn’t he? When he got released from prison they were amongst the only things he had to his name, something he could call his own.

When she pressed those handcuffs on his wrists he wondered if she cared like he did. Did she keep the things he sent her, or were they lost in her childhood home along with other toys she grew out of?

It made his heart break when he saw the lack of warmth there.

It hurt even worse when she cringed away from him in the helicopter, hanging upside down and possibly injured and she shied away like he would harm her. He tipped his head to the side, eyes moving to the scene outside him before he walked out to greet his flock. The same flock he spoke animatedly about for years, waiting for her to meet those wonderful people he considered his family.

Joseph let a sob slip from his lips. Curling in on himself and scooting further from his brother in the enclosed space of the car. He rubbed at that same Georgian coin, praying, drawing the metal up to press his lips there. “Please Lord, don’t do this. Don’t take this one.” Because he didn’t really know what kind of woman Rook Moule was. He didn’t know how she’d react to his men closing in on where she supposedly sought refuge when she escape that burning chopper. 

He prayed she wouldn’t do something rash. He wasn’t sure if he could handle that, not when his brothers were already weary about her. Questioning who the hell was this girl who waltzed into their lives and was stealing away the attention of the middle child. They didn’t trust her, not when Joseph showed them pictures and read small portions of her letters. They wanted proof with their own eyes. 

So he pressed his lips to that worn coin and prayed she’d give his family ample reason to trust her.

“We’ll get her Joe, we got our Chosen ready for backup, my hunters and Faith’s angels too. She ain’t getting out of that house without us knowing.”

Joseph nodded, not bothering to look over at Jacob. Focusing on the scene passing by the window instead.

“She knows me, I should be there, I can comfort her. She’s probably scared out of her mind, poor thing.”

Once they arrived on scene, pulling up to a run down cabin with three stories, Joseph practically lept out of the van. He stumbled over his own feet in his haste to move towards the house, desperate to get inside, to see her up close--unhindered by handcuffs between them this time around. Their first meeting was ruined by that.

“Joseph!” His own brother was on him before he could even make it ten feet. Grabbing him by the shoulders and blocking his path. “Are you fucking insane?”

He opened his mouth, closing it and opening it again. At a total loss for words when his eyes focused on the only light on in the house. He wanted to be in that room, to be by her side so she could at least hear his side of the story. 

“I know her. Let me go in there, she won’t hurt me.”

“Yeah, but the thing is, you don’t know her. Not really. It may feel like you do, after those letters, but that doesn’t mean shit.”

There was anger flaring in Joseph’s eyes. Blaring red hot as he stepped closer into Jacob’s personal space. His brother just didn’t understand. He didn’t know what those letters meant to Joseph. He wasn’t even aware that he still had those exchanges tucked away in his room at his compound, kept away from prying eyes because they felt too personal to share the contents so freely without her consent.

God, he could see them now, lying spread out on his bed hours earlier before he had got news of where Rook was. They told a story, a story that he wasn’t willing to stop here and now all because she didn’t have all the details.

Maybe if she knew he kept her letters all the way from when she was a young girl and he was locked up, that he still had her sparse photographs and that he walked around with that Georgian coin--maybe she would walk freely into his arms and let him show her how he felt such a connection to her.

He didn’t get that chance.

She didn’t let him have that chance to make things right. And his brother certainly didn’t let him walk into the burning building. Not for some stranger.

He physically restrained Joseph, tugged him back as their own men cleared the area, checking and rechecking for her to come running out.

She didn’t

And once again it was Jacob who was pulling him back, forcing him into the car with a radio clutched in his grip. Joseph could barely make out what he was saying over the rushing in his ears. Something about John taking watch, taking their place out in the field so Joseph could collect himself and Jacob could make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Them driving away with Joseph crying and curled up in a ball unknowing if she was alive or not was fucking stupid. Joseph was sure to tell him that, hurled insults mixed with obscenities.

Jacob took it. Allowed the verbal abuse and just kept his eyes forward, not offering soothing words until Joseph’s own words died down and all that was left was the rumbling of the car as well as the howling wolves as they neared the Veteran’s Center.

“There’s still life after loss Joe. We all know that. We all experienced rough shit, and we’re still here. You’ll be fine.” Jacob parked the car, rolling to a stop and turning around to where Joseph was lying in the back seat on his side. He reached out, placing a strong hand on his knee. “You’re strong brother.”    

 


	36. [Forced Marriage pt 4] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook getting morning sickness with the discovery that she's pregnant

“I’m sorry.”

His lips pulled tight, eyes not fully meeting hers.

“I can apologize for you. I--I didn’t know.”

She shifted from where she sat on a wooden pew, leaning further back to escape his rough hands that bracketed her throat. A threat in the simplest of forms, one that made her bite her tongue before she said anything else.

“If you weren’t feeling well Rook, I’d rather you tell me.” Finally his eyes locked on her own. Holding her there in place as he crouched down and took her hands. “Are you trying to make a fool out of the both of us? What’s your endgame, darling? Are you done with our arrangement, would you like to take your chances beside your friends? Eden’s Gate will put up a fight, you know this.” 

Moments like this, him using his words the way he was, it made her realize there’s a whole other part of The Father no one else got to see. That thought would make her lash out at him right that second if she didn’t feel so sick.

Because that was the whole problem wasn’t it? Whatever force decided to make her sick all over the wooden floor was the whole reason why Joseph’s words were veiled with threats and why his hands were holding her a little too tightly. 

“Something’s wrong. Something is bothering you.” He tipped his head to the side with a coy look shining in his eyes. “But if you really feel so unwell darling, I have no problem referring you to my doctor. I wouldn’t want you to be distracted by how sick you are.”

Then he was grabbing her by her forearms, wrangling her to her feet to be dragged along behind him. He did fix that, drawing an arm across her shoulders so when they stepped outside past the church doors they looked like the kind of picture perfect couple he always dreamt about. 

He whisked her away a step too fast, garnering the kind of glances from his flock she knew he would complain about later. And if nothing was wrong with her, if he assumed her sickness was a way to make him look bad--she’d be the one seeing punishment in the near future.

*****

It had to be a joke. Some kind of sick, twisted, foul joke that Joseph felt would be a proper way to get her back for the stunt she pulled earlier that morning.

“I should have known.” He crouched down in front of her, curling a piece of hair behind her ear when he shuffled closer to kneel between her legs. “After that night,” He sighed, a smile masking how stressed he felt.

“You remember that time, don’t you? It was bound to happen. And I thank God it did.” He grabbed at the nape of her neck, drawing their foreheads together, “You should too, darling.” It sounded almost like a command, and she knew that if she wasn’t carrying his child then he would force her onto her knees to thank the Lord above.

Pregnant.

Rook laughed in the doctor’s face when she said that. Didn’t want to believe the blood test they waved in front of her face either. 

To be fair she did remember that night. Four weeks ago when she dangled dangerously out his window, with the ledge biting into her hips, bruises forming when he rocked into her, finding no need to wear a condom when his end goal had been exactly this.

It had slipped her mind entirely. So much had happened. She had been more concerned with surviving then the consequences of what they had done.

“It will grow up loved, won’t it?” He asked softly, pulling away from her so they could lock eyes. She saw fervor there. Excitement and mania that made her doubt his ability to father a child.

She told him as much, spat angry words in his face that had him moving quicker than she could react. His hand--strong and open palmed--against her face. Making her fall back onto their bed.

From there she curled up, found herself in the fetal position, already protecting her stomach. She almost laughed at that--something so stupid as protecting the child inside her that was the seed of such a monster. 

But it made her feel not so alone. So she really didn’t mind it when Joseph grabbed her by her arm to tie her to the bed and left her with a rough slam of the door.

She wasn’t alone. Not anymore. That thought would have to keep her going. That would be another reason to keep up this charade with Joseph. Though she had a feeling that with this added variable he wasn’t going to let her get out of their agreement. Mercy was off the table.


	37. [Letters pt 3] Joseph/Rook

He waited and waited and waited. Sitting by an open window in an attempt to cool the sweat covering his skin. He felt antsy, fingers twitching, never able to settle on one task at a time. 

Skipping over the pages of a book of poetry from ‘83, moving to adjust his hair or open the window a little wider, or twisting the leaves of a dying plant on the sill. Using that to take out his anger.

For the fifth time in an hour he fiddled with his radio, toyed with the channel until he was confident that his voice wouldn’t waver. “John? Any word so far?”

“Still nothing Joe, nothing in the rubble at least, we went through it all. Not sure how hot a fire has to be to burn human remains, but maybe--”

Joseph cut off the radio quickly, heart pounding fast in his chest at his brother’s words. He imagined how painful it would have been to feel the heat close around her. To know it was hopeless to even try and escape.

Was she scared? Did she regret her decision too late? Did she wish he was there to save her, or at least change her mind?

He cried into his pillow that night, praying once for himself and twice for her. 

Come morning, his eyes were sore, muscles stiff from how he spent the hours curled on his side. There was a message on his phone when he managed to find it buried amongst his blankets. It buzzed twice against his thigh, sticking to his sweaty skin when he yanked it towards his face. Squinting to read the the most recent message coming through from Jacob. He had half the mind to roll back over and just go to sleep. 

But she was out there, the one he felt such a strange connection to, there was a chance she was out in the wild, in a foreign place, probably so scared.

He swore he felt her fear. And he hoped that was a sign from God, something telling him that she was alive. That’s why he got out of bed, clicking his phone on again and wincing at the too bright screen.

 

 

All coming from the eldest, and that almost made him smile. He didn’t know Jacob was searching—John, sure—he figured Jacob would head back to the North to run his brigade. He never much cared for Joseph’s...what had he called her? His plaything?

Joseph remembers slapping Jacob for that one. Screaming and stamping his feet like a child. Now he was out there, spending his time on something he thought was pointless. 

He didn’t bother changing his jeans from the night before, or brushing his hair, a shower could wait too. Though he did jam a toothbrush towards the back of his mouth, thumb flicking the screen down to read what came in from John. 

 

A picture was below that, sent in half an hour ago. A box, tiny and burnt. Way past destroyed that even if it was Joseph’s own relic, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to tell. 

 

That had Joseph rushing out of the bathroom quicker than he thought possible. Stumbling over his shoes that laid near the door when he crashed down in his living room. Needing to sit and stabilize himself.

He was reeling. Breathing hard through his nose at the knowledge of her keeping all those letters, probably his pictures too. That had to be it, despite John not being sure. It kept Joseph’s heart beating to know she cared, that she wanted to come here, even if it had to be done with prompting from him. Maybe she didn’t see him as the father figure like he hoped, but she had wanted to meet him. Her keeping his letters was evidence of that. 

And now she was gone, burning that stupid house around her like a fool.

Meaning she had doubts at one point. She didn’t like the side of him that he hid from her until the very last minute. If he had the chance he could at least tell her that she was wrong, that he didn’t lie to her, just...omitted parts of his life that might make her weary.

He groaned, putting his hands in his head at how fucking stupid he sounded.

He curled up on his threadbare couch and cried before dozing off, head pounding near his temples.

*****

“Over here!”

Then barking, shouts from men and women, this time too far away for her to make out properly. That was good, she was getting further, putting distance between her and them.

She wouldn’t be surprised if Joseph was at the head of that pack, giving orders to men willing to throw their lives away for him. Even through his photographs she could read him as a willful kind of guy. Hell, he must have that sort of charm when he so easily convinced her to run to Montana--the other side of the damn country and she said yes.

If she was watching someone else's life through a lens she would be impressed at the skill he possessed.

Now she was angry. Pissed actually, completely running on adrenaline with the rage building inside her. That’s what kept her going, it made it easy to move forward and ignore what she left behind. That box, first and foremost, those memories filled with hope, she abandoned that.

And if she knew Joseph a little bit better--the real Joseph--she would have felt sorry. Instead, she kept going. Striding through wildflowers and scratching bushes that ruined her calves. She ran until her lungs felt like they were on fire and could no longer expand without her pausing from the pain. 

Her legs gave way when her body couldn’t be pushed anymore. No more screams, or the beating paws from wild dogs sent her way, or engines coming from fast trucks. For now, she was safe.

Still angry, but relatively safe. 

Crouched on asphalt with a river running somewhere off to her right that she couldn’t see. A large building stood in front of her, looming wide and blocking out the sun. There was broken windows, it looked long since taken care of. 

Safe. She wanted to feel safe.

So Rook moved forward, forced those last steps until she could slip inside. The dogs would find her trail for sure, with Joseph probably tagging along filled with sinister intentions.

She let herself cry on the cold ground, stuck between stacked boxes and rusty machinery. 

*****

They found her, they were closing in, she could hear them. Even if they were unsure exactly where she was in the shadows of such a large, abandoned building, they knew she was near.

If she was a better deputy, she might have had the balls to grab a metal pipe from one of the corroding piles and fight her way out. But basic training never went over this kind of situation, it never taught her to kill, or to mortally wound a man with severe head trauma.

She did try to get away, she had that going for her. She fought with fierce kicks and sharp nails to whoever grabbed at her first. 

It wasn’t enough against men who looked like soldiers and built like tanks. That made her more scared than she had been back at that burning house, surrounded. Because why the fuck is Joseph leading an army? 

Rook didn’t get her answer that night. She only received a harsh choke hold given to her as she was dragged outside, coming from a man who she recognized from one of the many pictures sent to her over the years. And judging from what he was saying to her, he knew who she was too. As did the smartly dressed man trailing along beside them as the taller one--Jacob?--tossed her in the backseat of a white pickup.

“You caused my family a lotta grief. You’re coming with us after that show, sweetheart,” Then, as the door slammed, directed at his brother, “She better be worth it.” 

She imagined Hope County was gorgeous before the Seeds infected it, that thought came  
fleetingly as she watched the world fly by in the car. Now it was different, and it suddenly made sense as to why Joseph’s pictures practically stopped, why they consisted of a very small area of land that wasn’t tainted.

She did recognize Joseph’s tiny house from one of her oldest pictures. It hasn’t changed one bit. She held onto her tongue, not letting that thought go. It didn’t seem like his brothers liked her very much—considering who she thought was John—had a strong arm around her shoulders, almost wrapping around her neck to hold her into place as he walked her towards that house.

It was a blur, that simple walk to the door. Everything went fuzzy around the edges as she was brought further into a gated enclosure. Her world was darkening around her in a way she couldn’t explain. 

She heard a sharp noise, sounding so broken and raw, that made her flinch. Then she felt something surround her, a warmth she couldn’t explain. She whined, confused and scared all at once. 

It felt like she had a wad of gum in her mouth when she tried to speak, “I wanna go home.” It was foolish and childish, she was in her twenties and she wanted nothing more than to fly back to Georgia with her mother and father to take care of her.

“Oh child,” She couldn’t see who was speaking, couldn’t tell where it was coming from or whose hands were on her cheeks, “You are home now, finally. And with God as my witness, I can say that I am never letting you go.”


	38. [Forced Marriage pt 5] Joseph/Rook

It was stupid really, to be sitting under the bright fluorescent lights of the bathroom   
lights with a razor in her hand while Joseph sat waiting for her return, mere feet from where she was curled up on the tiled floor.

He would knock soon, wonder what the hell was taking her so long, impatient that he had to stop their reading for a bathroom break that really should have lasted only a few seconds. Always the dutiful husband concerned for her wellbeing. That and the wellbeing of their child.

It was why she was doing this. Because the kid inside her would not be born into this mess. She wouldn’t wish this life onto her worse enemy, in no way would she do that to her child. She wouldn’t let them face the horrors of being paraded around as the next messiah to follow in Joseph’s footsteps. And she would not let their precious mind be tainted by whatever Jacob wanted them to believe.

And she’d kill herself before she let John even brush up against the delicate skin of her child.

Rook laughed, using that moment to slide the blade along her flesh. Ripping into her body with ease, gasping at the initial pain that came from it. Not as intense as she thought, but not pleasant. 

Really she was doing this to spite him. She knew that. One might call it greed. Greed could be forcing her hand to move to her other wrist to repeat the action, or perhaps it wasn’t that at all.

It all came down to not wanting a man like Joseph Seed to have an ounce of happiness in his life. Lord knows he doesn’t deserve it. Taking out two birds with one stone. Destroying one of the many people in his life that made him smile everyday.

She was distantly aware of banging.

And screaming.

A mixture of hers and his. Him yelling at her with worry in his voice--not anger or contempt or veiled threats like she was used to--he sounded scared. That was new, and it was not something she knew how to deal with. So she yelled right back. Stood on shaking legs that gave out on her when she took her first step, and she cursed at him. Told him to leave her the fuck alone.

He didn’t. It sounded like he was trying to break the door down. Like the simple action of him slamming his frail body against the wood was going to do anything.

She laughed again. No longer aware of her surroundings. Everything was getting fuzzy at the edges. And she smiled, her lips tipped up when she brought the razor to her throat and slashed sideways with the last of her energy. Then sweet, sweet darkness came and swept her away.

*****

Joseph was panicking, for the first time in a very long time, he didn't know what to do. This was beyond his skill set. Never before had he been faced with a situation so fucking dire that it made his heart pound unevenly and had his hands shaking.

Then again, his ignorance could be forgiven, because he had never really seen so much blood. Even way back when with his own broken nose from his father and the cut lip given to him by his peers, even with Jacob’s bruised knuckles from trying to fight back, or baby John’s scarred ribs. 

This amount of blood was cause for concern. It was enough to make a man faint if he hadn’t the the right amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He just couldn’t fathom why. As he mopped up the blood coming from her wrists--an easy fix really when she chose the bathroom and his medicine cabinet was stocked full--he moved onto her neck. It wasn’t deep, not quite like the cuts she put on her wrists that were meant to kill and not to harm. 

She was still breathing, he could see it in the rise and fall of her chest. It was shallow, a barely there sort of thing that gave him hope nonetheless.

He wasn’t sure how to treat a neck wound, one that was still pouring out a steady stream of blood onto his palms and the tiled floor.

He begged and pleaded as he pressed towels to the cut, first to Rook, then to a God he was sure to curse later, and then into a radio he had clipped to his belt from earlier that morning. Asking any doctors--fuck it--all doctors nearby to help him. 

He wasn’t too specific in what he needed help with, even if it was just a paper cut people would come running to his house, he knew that. So he sat with her head in his lap with his hands still pushing onto her neck, careful not to cut off the meager amount of air entering her body.

*****

She was distantly aware of arguing. A sound that was too unfamiliar for her to pinpoint exactly who was fighting, or about what. And really she was too tired to worry. Her eyelids did flutter though, and she shifted wherever she laid, that must’ve given her away to whoever stood feet away whisper yelling. 

The sound stopped suddenly. The voices came to a crashing halt when the bed springs creaked. 

Then she was surrounded in a warmth too great it was almost overwhelming. Her legs kicked weakly against cool bed sheets, her head tossed back as her eyes opened into tiny slits. She caught a flash of Joseph’s glasses, felt them press into her collarbone when he rested his cheek on her chest.

“Careful Joe, wounds still tender.”

Joseph did pull back, listening to who she could identify as Jacob when she saw a glimpse of red and green. 

“You had us worried.” He shifted, eyes downcast and fingers twitching, clasped in front of him. Like he wanted to reach out and hold her just to make sure she was okay, really alive and there in front of him. He settled on hooking his thumbs in his pockets, teeth grabbing tight to his bottom lip. “Scared us all. Didn’t think I got to you in time, losing you--” His voice hitched, and when she searched his face she could see the tears gathering in his eyes, making them seem more blue. “Losing both you and our child.”

She saw Jacob on the edges of her vision stiffen at his words. “You still plan on having that kid? You still got time to get rid of it.” Directed more at his brother than her. Meaning, thank god, she wasn’t the one expected to answer. Not like she thought she could, her throat felt raw. Scratchy and unable to use from the blade she nicked across it.

She missed the interaction between the two of them, far too worried about if she’d ever be able to speak again with what she did to herself. If she voiced those concerns to Joseph he’d probably say something about divine intervention playing a role into the punishment she has to face. If he was crazy enough he might just remind her that suicide was a sin.

Her eyes slammed closed about the same time when Jacob snapped the door shut a little too harshly. “Don’t mind him.” Joseph was sitting on the bed, hip pressed into her forearm with how close he was. His hand stroked back her hair, taking her pinched expression for one that had to do with his brother’s reaction. “He’ll come around.” He sighed, placing a finger under her jaw to tip her head up, looking over the diagonal cut over her throat. “And if he doesn’t, there’s so many other people who will share our excitement.” 

At the end of the week, still no words leaving her lips, Joseph pulled her from that clinical room she could now identify as belonging to the veterans center. He spoke about bringing her home, sharing the news. Some bullshit talk about how that would pull her out of the depression she sunk into. She only slinked further in the passenger seat, forehead pressed against the window and turned away in a futile attempt to block him out. 

*****

Jacob’s reaction was enough for her, she didn’t need the other half of his family to look at her with anger and contempt. She was afraid John would be far worse. That he would have thrown a fit, screamed and shouted, maybe slapped her if he was mad enough. 

That’s not what happened. That almost broke her. She would have preferred if he hit her. She deserved it. For trying to steal away a child’s life in an act that she was beginning to think was selfish from what John was rambling on about with an arm slung over her shoulder, pulling her close to his side as he rested his other hand on her stomach.

Faith wasn’t any less discrete. Only she focused more on her wounds then the child she was carrying. Her long fingers ran over her neck, trying to coax words from her throat that may never come.

Joseph led her away when he saw the pain in her eyes.

Maybe they were more connected than she thought. He knew her better then she ever wanted to believe.


	39. [Angel Rook pt 6] Jacob/Rook

She hadn’t been going that fast. Not fast enough that the world around her became just a blur of green and brown, but fast enough that slamming into a tree was what was needed to steal all the air from her lungs in an instant.

It was sobering really, reminding her how fragile she was, that the wings she had were not invincible things made of steel. They were feathers and bones, and hence, could break.

She was sure they were broken. At least the right one was, which happened to be the one which took not only the brunt of the impact when she slammed into that tree that came out of nowhere, but it also padded her fall when she smacked into the ground. 

Rook was limping, maybe a twisted ankle, carrying herself along as she dragged a shattered wing behind her. It was pulling on the ground, collecting dirt and agitating it. Each step sent sharp lances of redhot pain up her wing and into her shoulder.

She was well and truly fucked. 

Stuck somewhere deep inside the mountains, so far up she never even bothered exploring that area. It was a goddamn ghost town, well, save for the looming building say, fifteen feet ahead of her. From way up high it was only a shadow, something that piqued her curiosity.

Now she was hoping it was somewhere safe. Maybe warm and without wolves waiting to tear her apart. It could have been her paranoia, but she swore those animals were already closing in on her. That thought made her shuffle along faster than she ought to, making her limp wing drag quicker on the ground, getting caught on tree roots and stray rocks.

She grit her teeth and kept walking, intent on making it there now that she saw people. Vans too. Her vision was far too blurry to make out if they were friends or foes, but she was beginning to think that didn’t matter.

Not when she was close to collapsing and becoming food for the local wildlife.

Closer now to the mystery building, she tuned out the people speaking, ignored the hustle and bustle of soldiers moving, because she caught that much--she knew that they at least considered themselves soldiers.

With the last of her energy she found herself a tiny hollow enclave, a natural dip in the land that fit her small frame perfectly, even with her wings. Partially tucked into her spine, one wing hanging loose around her, very much broken.

Slipping into unconsciousness like that, slightly warmer than being exposed to nature, she was uncaring to where she was or if she left any tracks to where she climbed off to. 

It didn’t matter when she felt like her whole left side was on fire, besides, it’s not like anyone needed her. She could use a break. 

*****

He found her curled into a ball, trying so damn hard to preserve what little warmth she had. Just a routine perimeter search, checking and rechecking until he heard her pitiful whines made in her sleep.

It was easy from there. Scooping her up off the ground, walking her to his office to dump her on his bed. All easy considering she was down for the count. Pulled out of the fight from whoever tore her wing to shreds. 

At least he didn’t have to worry about her going anywhere. Jacob laughed, pulling up a chair to sit by the bed to watch her. Maybe God did exist. Delivering him back his angel.

He ran a finger down her jaw, rubbing at the scratches on her cheeks and forehead. “Someone gave you hell, pup.”

In an hour he had everything he needed by his side. All the medical supplies he asked for given to him with no questions asked. There was perks to being a herald.

Jacob flipped her on her stomach, watching her body bounce on the mattress. Completely unconscious. Too easy. She didn’t stir when he jabbed at her wing. Rubbing away dry blood and pulling away leaves and sticks. Maybe her injury was her own fault. Which made a pang of anger run through him. She was supposed to be strong, and it seems as if she was taken out of by a goddamn tree.

She did wake when he poured alcohol over her wing, drenching the thing until it flopped over the edge of the bed. Properly saturated with the stuff. Her body jerked then, trying to scramble away until he clamped his hand down on her stomach.

“Stay.” 

He felt her muscles tense and roll. They quivered beneath his touch. As if her body innately knew how much damage he could do to what was already broken.

“Wha--”

“Calm down. I’ve been more than polite while you were taking a cat nap.” He chuckled low when he saw her cheeks flush from being so easily caught. “Working up quite the reputation for being strong, figured you were smarter than this.”

His eyes roved over the cuts on her cheeks, falling down to the wing that was beginning to drip blood again from being agitated. “Can I ask what happened?”

“Trees happened.”

He snorted. Fingers brushing lightly over her feathers, plucking them away despite her feeble protests. “Gonna patch you up, and then you’re staying here with me. We clear deputy?”

She opened her mouth, muscles contracting again when he pressed a sharp needle close to her wing, nearly translucent twine tangled among it. “You don’t have much of a choice. Obviously you can’t fly too well, if at all. You need help. And you’re getting it from me.”

Rook let her head fall back against the pillows. Hand clenched tight in the blankets as he began to sew her shut. Her teeth clenched at the mere thought of having him help her. He couldn’t make her strong, he’d end up running her to the ground until she collapsed.

“Ever teach a bird to fly Jacob.”

He smiled, sharp canines flashing. “Nah. But I figured it’s easy enough. Just walk ya to the top of this building and toss you off.” He stood suddenly, moving out of her grasp when angry hands searched forward. “That’s how little birdies learn. So that’s how you’ll learn.”


	40. [Teasing pt 1] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook discovers Joseph is having a nice evening dinner with someone, and doesn't know why she feels jealous

She had been watching him for a while, tracking his movements and marking up a map in the hopes of finding a pattern.

John had proved a force to be reckoned with, so she left him to his own devices a while back. She didn’t want to test her odds with Faith or the bliss, and Jacob seemed a little too interested in her when he first called her.

Joseph seemed like the safer choice considering how fucking tired she was. He gave her a break, let her sit back, eat an apple and just watch him. Never close enough to hear, thank God for that, she didn’t care much for his sermons, but she was close enough to read his face. To see every minute expression change, he was like an open book. Frankly, it made her job easier.

She slept when he slept and ate when he ate. Ample times for breaks. Which is why she didn’t think twice when he went back to where he called home in his tiny house on his compound for dinner. She kicked back against a tree, blanket thrown over her lap to stave off the chilling wind with a scarce amount of food littering the ground and a half full bottle of water cradled between her thighs.

A pair of binoculars were pressed to her face, pen and paper to her left, ready to take notes if need be. It fleetingly made her wonder if she should have became a detective.

She laughed at that, shaking her head and refocusing on Joseph through his open window. His appearance it what gave her pause, made her freeze suddenly and scramble to grab at the notepad by her side. A difference in The Father’s schedule is something she should be paying attention to. Especially when he just looked so...well put together.

Like a man. Not some demi-God or a preacher with insane rantings spilling from his lips. Just a man ready for a night out on the town, and if she saw this snapshot out of context she could create a whole life for him. She could imagine that he was returning home from work, maybe at a bank or in some office, he’d meet his spouse at the door and bend down to receive the embrace of the kids he had.

His expression, clouded and nervous at the same time, is what made her refocus.

Something was happening. Something that was enough to make Joseph adjust the carefully pressed white button up he was wearing for the fifth time, going as far as to tug at his sleeves before opening the door to whoever he was waiting for.

The woman who walked in, making herself at home by slipping off her shoes almost instantly to take a seat at Joseph’s table, was someone Rook couldn’t recognize. But she was just as well dressed as Joseph. Makeup flawless from where Rook was sitting, pleated skirt pulled tight around her waist and hair done up by a professional.

She put Rook to shame. And for a second she felt self conscious, if they were in the same room as each other someone would assume Rook came back from war. They were from different worlds, and Joseph obviously preferred this stranger’s life than to what Rook brought to the table.

He was smiling, laughing, head tipping with a glimmer in his eyes that Rook swore wasn’t a trick of the light.

The stranger was leaning forward, her head propped up on her cupped palm, elbow resting comfortably on the table. Interested on Joseph’s every word, completely captivated. For the first time since Rook started following the life of Joseph Seed, she wished she could hear what he was saying. What words were he using to make the woman in front of him go slack jawed?

Rook bit the inside of her cheek, pen and notepad pushed to the side, the job she had long forgotten. She didn’t miss how Joseph’s eyes dropped, lashes fluttering towards the open V of the stranger’s shirt.

She held back the word slut on her tongue. It was childish, the feeling bubbling up inside her. Maybe envy, maybe anger. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t want to think of him having of life, of being happy when he robbed that from so many--her included. Or maybe it was something else, like the fact that he wasn’t paying her attention, as was their per usual.

She had half the mind to leave. Go trek over to Nick and Kim’s to crash on the couch and coddle her new godchild. But suddenly her radio was in her hand, clenching it tight as she spoke through a clamped jaw.

“Father?” A radio frequency stolen from Jacob, some papers scattered on his desk that she tried to commit to memory, and now she prayed to God with eyes shut tight that he just---

“Rook?”

Her eyes were open again, scrambling to find where Joseph went, to at least see his expression, if she put any strain on his dinner date.

By the looks of it, she succeeded. He was no longer seated at the table with a cool glass of wine cradled in his grasp, he had retreated to his bedroom. Curtains pulled wide open to offer her a perfect view of how utterly stressed he looked.

Fingers tangled in his hair only to smooth it back a moment later when the band holding in the strands slipped free. He was pacing, brow pinched when he spoke again. “Rook? You’re calling me for…?” He sounded impatient, and if she was miles away safe in her bed, she might ask why. She might have the gall to tease him. To insinuate the sin he could be committing.

Instead she breathed in to steady herself, pressed down on the red button so Joseph could hear her exhale. “Are you free Father?”

He grunted, like he was physically wounded. And the face he pulled was full of pain. “Now...I can’t.”

“After all this time of wanting to get to me, to make me stop, here I am willing to speak and you want to tell me no.” She clicked her tongue, leaning back against the bark of a tree to try and relax her tense muscles.

He glanced back at the bedroom door, frowning and shaking his head. “Rook, I am begging you to give me a moment, maybe an hour, this is important--”

“Does someone have a hot date to get to?”

“Why--Why would you assume that?”

She winced, curling in on herself at his tone. Accusatory and mad. “Nothing. Nevermind, have a nice night Father.”

And then she was stomping off, grabbing her shit and packing up. Going to Nick and Kim’s because fuck Joseph Seed and the secretive life he was intent on leading.

*****

The dinners continued.

Night after night. Week after week.

And she began thinking wrath was a perfect fit for her, she was so close to calling up John just to place it on her skin. Or maybe envy would have been a better fit.

But that didn’t make sense now, did it? It was Joseph, she had no right to question what he did in his spare time. Yet she wanted whatever this was, to end.

She wanted the girl in the fancy pantsuit and dressed with silken hair to get the fuck out of Rook’s crosshairs. Quite literally in her crosshairs, her little head lined up with her sniper’s sight. Joseph close behind. It was wholesale slaughter and she was ready.

“Joseph.”

She saw a flicker of annoyance cross his face from miles away when he stood, excusing himself politely with a smile, and made a hasty retreat to his bedroom again.

“This is a habit now, huh Rook?”

 

“What?” She played innocent, not bothering to hide her smile when she lowered her rifle to hold her radio.

“You seem to call me at the worst times.”

“Would you prefer if I came to see you Father?”

She raised her binoculars just to see how he’d react to his title falling from her lips. He liked it, judging by how he visibly rocked on his feet, hand reaching out to steady himself on his dresser.

“I’d be happy if you came into my church any time of the day, but now--”

“I’m coming.”

“You’re not.” Seething, sounding angry and reserved.

She was. But she put her radio down, let him return to his guest and play host while she gathered her things and climbed down from her perch.

*****

She greeted Joseph with a smile, beaming up at him with wide eyes and fluttering lashes. He did not look amused. A frown tugging thin lips down, eyes--for once not obscured by glasses--showed contempt.

“Miss me?”

His mouth twitched at the corner. So close to telling her to leave, or just calling for his men, she could be out of his hair and gone in an instant. Rook had a feeling the only reason he didn’t do just that was because of his lady friends...speaking of which.

“What’s wrong?”

“I told you now was not the time.”

“Mhm. Why?” She bounced on her heels, daring enough to lean on the doorframe and peak over his shoulders on her tip toes. She didn’t miss the way he shielded her view. “Who are you hiding back there?” She questioned in a whisper, painfully aware of the answer.

If she did catch him off guard, he was a pro at hiding it. Tilting his head to the side and grazing his eyes down her body when she stepped into his personal space. Close enough for him to smell the blood and mud that lingered on her clothes, and close enough for her to smell the sweet perfume that stranger left on him.

“Never pegged you as nosey. Or invasive. Or perhaps,” He didn’t finish, shaking his head like his next thought was nothing but foolish.

Rook grew bolder, something pushing her on, probably that envy she still denied. Her hand reached out to press the flat of her palm on his chest. Feeling the heat he naturally gave off. “I liked you better without a shirt, when I could see your sins. They made you seem more human, vulnerable too.”

He breathed out a sigh at her words. Silent when he threw a worried glance over his shoulder.

Rook felt to much like some whore who had her hands all over a married man. So she stepped back. Searching Joseph’s eyes and finding he wasn’t unaffected. “You never finished your sentence.” She reminded gently, arms folded across her chest, getting the feeling that he was seconds away from closing the door.

“I never pegged you as being the type of woman who would ever be envious of someone else who captured my attention.”

The door shut with a soft click.

She waited one minute.

Two.

Five.

Eight.

She was seething. Mad that there were no alarms, no screaming or men rushing at her from every angle with guns pointed at her face. He hadn’t told a single soul about the infiltration to his compound. He knew what she was capable of, that she could kill dozens all by herself. And yet he was letting her walk away, allowing her this freedom as if she was nothing more than a stray puppy who showed up at his door begging for scraps.

It was an insult that he fully expected her to leave after he called her out for a sin she totally, 100% did not own. He wanted her gone, to walk back to wherever she came from.

She didn’t do anything like that. Instead, taking up camp below his bedroom window, checking and rechecking to make sure it wasn’t locked--it wasn’t--she could wait.

*****

She had been half dreading Joseph would take the stranger back to his room. She’d be forced to sit in agony as they fucked only feet away, she didn’t think she’d be able to handle hearing him like that.

Not when she was jealous.

Because she was. She knew that, and she had a feeling Joseph was the type of man to be a smug asshole about that. Maybe it was the twinkle in his eyes she swore she saw before he closed the door on her.

He liked her jealous? Fine. She’d show him how deep that envy ran.

So when his lights clicked off and she heard his bed sigh under his weight, she made her move.

Crept impossibly slower than she normally acted only to slide open his window. Just enough for her to slip inside, closing it quick before a gust of air made him shift and face her.

He did look like an angel when he slept. Dark eyelashes highlighted against rosy cheekbones, there was a high flush in his skin, probably from the wine he always drank whenever company was over.

“What happened to practicing what you preach?” She posed the question softly, standing above him with a finger trailing down his jaw. He grumbled at the contact, squirming before resting back into his pillow once more.

Sound asleep then. Blissfully unaware to what she had planned. And to what she had in the dirty bag left at her feet. Something to keep him still and quiet so her point got across more clearly.

She set to work, only using the dim light the moon was reflecting on her. With diligent fingers she bound him up, rose his arms above his head with slow motions to tie those to the metal frame of his rickety bed. A bed that’d make a hell of a lot of noise if he struggled too much. Especially when his feet were tied up as well, stretching wide to each respective post belonging to his bed.

Realistically she knew he could fight her when he woke--because he would--but would he risk the noise? The loud banging and creaking of the bed that would no doubt alert the people that were sleeping only feet away in their own houses.

How much pride did he have? Surely enough to not want to get caught with the junior deputy sitting in his lap. That’s where she found herself anyway, seated on his hips with the thin blanket covering him tossed to the side.

Him going sans shirt and pants made this so much easier.

Her hands clawed down his front, her nails creating tiny red lines that made him stir. She did that a little bit harder, running over scars and tattoos alike until he jolted. Head shaking to the side as if that would help him wake faster.

His eyes were blown wide in an instant. Dialing in on her and just how close she was to him.

“Good evening Father.”

She pressed her palms flat to his chest, spreading out her fingers, making her pinky brush along his nipples. The contact had his eyes slamming shut, the breath he took made his ribs shake.

“Rook. What are--you aren’t--” He stopped suddenly, collecting his thoughts before speaking again. “You must have wanted to speak to me, hm?”

Her head jerked in a nod. Wondering, from this close, if he could see the sin in her eyes.

“I wanted to make something clear.”

“And what would that be?” With his voice rough and scratchy from sleep, lowered to a whisper, it made wanton need curl low in her stomach. He almost sounded defeated.

Almost.

“Gotta admit that I didn’t much care for your choice of company these last few weeks.”

He opened his mouth, closing it a second later when his eyes clouded over. A soft hum left his lips when he couldn’t find any words. She continued, breathing in deep as her hands moved from his chest to stray lower. “I never thought myself the possessive type. I can’t even really explain why it’s directed at you.” She shrugged, fingers catching at the hem of his boxers, snapping at the elastic to make his hips jump up into hers. “And yet, here we are.”

“Call it like it is, Rook, if you want to admit something to me, as a confession, you may as well give it the proper name.”

When she tipped her head in confusion, still so far into a pit of denial, he finished his thought, “This is envy. Pure jealousy. A sin I never would have imagined belonged to you. I suppose you confirmed what was only a suspicion.”

A small part of her, the one that harbored way too much pride, felt like curling in on herself and slipping back out that window. Instead, to distract them both, she let the tips of her fingers run over the front of his underwear. Slowly trailing over his interested cock. Seemed like he wasn’t totally unaffected.

With one sharp tug his cock sprung free, half hard and already leaking.

“I’m just a man, you know that.” He mumbled when she searched him with a probing gaze. “To know that I am driving you towards sin.” He smiled at her, squirming where he laid under her, “Maybe I shouldn’t take so much pride in that.”

“You like me jealous?”

Her hand wrapped around his length, rubbing over his cockhead but never fully indulging him.

“Can’t say I’m mad at it.”

 

She clicked her tongue, shaking her head in faux disappointment. “Then I’m guessing you won’t object if I come back tomorrow?” She slinked away from him, not missing the worry in his eyes at her departure.

“You’re not staying?”

She laughed, moving to the end of the bed to untie his ankles, rubbing at the skin there when she noticed the red marks. “Maybe another night. I’m not that jealous.” An awful lie that didn’t fool either of them. “You gotta work harder than that.” She moved to his arms next after the rope was thrown on the floor, she untied his left wrist, trusting him to work out the other on his own.

He grabbed at her before she could make an escape, propped up on one elbow with only a single hand and he was still strong enough to yank her on the bed to pull her into a harsh kiss she didn’t think he was capable of. “I’ll take that as a challenge Rook.”


	41. [Teasing pt 2] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook and Sharky have been spending too much time together in Joseph's fair opinion

She had no right to toy with him. He wondered just exactly who she thought she was. She spied on him, snuck into his room at night with the sole purpose of touching him. She teased him until he was putty in her hands, banking on her promise that she’d come back. She stuck to that promise, returning the next night to repeat the routine.

With him tied down and his underwear discarded while he slept. Her hands all over his body, exploring every little crevice, finding out what made him squirm. It was lustful, he made sure to atone for that, but he had every intention of doing it again. 

Then she stopped showing up. She gave him two meager days of her time. Maybe it was greedy but he felt he deserved more. And really, if he was being honest, he wouldn’t be as mad if he didn’t catch her playing around with someone else.

He had no proof that the things she was doing with that man were the same as what she did to him. That thought didn’t stop the jealousy. 

She was laughing beside him, giggling with a hand slung around his shoulder. Stealing his baseball cap to make him chase her for it. Wearing his sweater when nights got cold, and letting him take her for a joy ride while she whooped in the air with a fist raised out the window. 

Faith told him that his name was Charlemagne Boshaw. Sharky by friends. Sharky by Rook. It was bullshit. He stole her attention away with a simple radio call, with him showing up wielding explosives and molotovs. 

He was leading her towards something dangerous, that’s why he told himself that he was mad. It seemed justifiable to outsiders. To his family especially.

All he really was, was jealous. It was an ugly feeling he hadn’t felt in so damn long. After all, what or who did he have to be envious about? He had everything. A loving family, a project with loyal, devoted followers, and the promise of a new world ahead of him. What he didn’t have was the object of his desires who dared to taunt him and run away.

Joseph atoned those first two days. Though after that, when his own lust became too much, well, he was yet to atone for that. Or even confess. No point in that when he knew his envy would still run rampant. That would all quiet down if Rook would only come see him. He was tempted to call her a coward, hope that would invoke enough wrath to bring her to him in the nighttime. 

But she wasn’t returning anytime soon. He knew that when a month went by and every other night he’d be awoken not by her seated on his lap again, but with one of his men knocking on his door with a flushed face and apologies for waking him.

It was the same each and every time. With reports of Rook seen with a certain friend, whose name Joseph was getting sick of hearing, and something else on fire that required his immediate attention. Because apparently no one knew who to stop fires and he was really starting to consider building a fire station to combat this mess so he could get a proper night’s sleep.

Joseph was done. It wasn’t the envy or betrayal that caused him to make his decision final, it was the fatigue. Wearing deep in his bones to make him sluggish throughout the day. She didn’t have the authority to interrupt his nights like that. 

And it might be childish, but he felt like he should do the same.

So he followed her. He tracked her using a set of skills he never spent his years honing. He lost sight of her too many times. Was too loud once or twice when she stopped, seeming seconds away from calling out to her friends to let them know they were being hunted.

They always pulled her attention away before she could make that decision. Laughed sweetly at whatever they said that he couldn’t quite hear. Her whole face brightening as she ran along to catch up. 

He tailed her far into the night. Worried to the point of parental concern when she was still running around causing fires at the 3 in the morning. He was dead on his feet, swaying from side to side with dipped eyes. Darting ahead only when her friends dispersed. Leaving her alone. Allowing him time to make his move. To remind her that he was still there, he still needed her. And she had no right to just leave him.

*****

Rook was sleeping soundly. Lids fluttering like she couldn’t fully relax, even when her body yanked her into blissful sleep on the forest floor. She looked angelic, moonlight illuminating her high cheekbones and the natural curve of her hips.

Joseph found himself crouched down next to her. Wincing at the way drops of dew from the grass clung to wet his jeans. This was no place for anyone to sleep. He should know. He spent one too many nights making a concrete sidewalk his bed for the night and using trash bags for pillow. 

She deserved him. She deserved an actual bed and a man who made sure she knew pleasure like a drug.

Which is why he dragged his blunt nails along her ribs, hiking up her shirt until she shifted on her back. Stirring from his gentle touch. Lids fluttering, threatening to wake if he wasn’t careful. And he really wasn’t trying to be. Not anymore. Not when he was still filled with anger.

“Rook.” His hand wrapped possessive around her shoulder, trying hard to create their first encounter--that she initiated--by crawling in her lap. Cupping either side of her face, squeezing so tight he swore he heard her bones creak. Then her eyes were open, not giving him a chance to worry about the pain he might inflict on her.

She startled, legs kicking as she squirmed. Not seeing him at first, scared with the only acknowledgement being something heavy on top of her.

When he said her name again, repeated it like a prayer and a mantra, she went still. Breath coming out in short bursts. He wasn’t too sure, but he thought she puffed out a laugh. A smile taking over her tired features. That made him angrier. Stoked the fire in his belly because he hasn’t seen her in two months and she acted like nothing ever changed between them. As if she didn’t start something dangerous.

“You plan on doing something Joseph? Or are we gonna gaze at the stars together and tell stories?”

She was mocking him, a teasing tone taking over her voice as she propped herself up on her elbows. Freeing her hands, allowing her to touch and take. To run the pads of her fingers over his scars, to tangle in his hair and tug him down. 

Not close enough to kiss. It was meant to make him want it, to imagine how she’d taste. It almost had him begging. He could smell her when she was that close. It made all those memories come rushing back with her scent and her smooth skin under him.

“Why did you leave me? Is this only a game to you? Is that all I am?”

“I--wha--? No.” She shook her head vehemently, a frown making her features turn ugly. “I’m too tired for this shit. Just...C’mere.” Rook’s hands eased out of his hair, not completely, but enough to loosen her hold and allow him to have her.

He took that moment to its full advantage. He drank her in through that kiss, nipped at her lip until she whimpered. Sucked on her tongue and swept his own along the side of her mouth. Wanting to go deeper, to just get closer.

He was filled with wrath, with envy and greed too. Joseph would atone tomorrow, now that this hunt was over. He figured that while he was at it, lust wouldn’t make that much of a difference. So he deepened the kiss, took control when she never before let him have it. She always tied him up, kept him helpless and reliant on her.

Joseph wanted to dominate. So he did. He grabbed her wrist, yanked at it with a soft force to urge it away from his aching scalp. He didn’t have anything to bind her with. But him slamming her hand down on the earth by her side with a harsh command to ‘stay,’ seemed to do the trick.

His hands were frantic, tugging at his belt, pulling himself out so he could breathe properly. “You can’t toy with my emotions like that. It’s unjust.” Joseph kissed her again, sighing when his cock brushed along her stomach and a jolt a electricity ran through him. The pressure and warmth coming from his length tucked between the two of them had his head spinning already. 

Sex was off the table. Lust was one sin to atone for, but premarital sex...It didn’t seem worth the repentance. Not when he planned on keeping her close until she could have carry the title of wife and him as husband. Soon, soon they’d lie together as man and wife. As for now, he could have these moments with her unaware of the future ahead.

Rook forced them to break with a grunt, shoving at his shoulders only to wrap a hand around him. Her smile was crooked in the moonlight. “This all you want Joseph? Or should I call you Father?”

The sound he made was wounded. Stolen from low in his throat as his eyes closed tight. 

He relaxed into her touch when she laid her hand down on his hip, rubbing soothing circles into his pelvic bone in the same rhythm as the thumb she had on his slit. That was probably when he realized he was never going to be in charge. She was always holding the reins. She had been since day one when she snuck into his bedroom.

Her mouth covering his dick brought his mind right back to the present. His stomach muscles tightened as he rolled his hips forward. Coaxing his length further past her lips, urging it down her throat until she gagged and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. He was tempted to cum right then when she looked up at him, half smiling with his dick in her mouth.

“To answer your question, no.”

She made a confused noise, pulling away with a wet pop. Single hand working him over as he writhed. “What?”

“This isn’t all that I want from you. I crave so much more than just this.”

“Then why don’t you take it?” She laughed like it was that easy. Kissed at his cockhead with such sweetness he didn’t know how to react. “I’m right here.”

Soon, he promised. He whispered it to her when she went deeper. When he saw the outline of his cock through the thin skin protecting her throat. He pressed a hand there out of awe. Soon, he told her again when all she did was furrow her eyebrows. 

She moved fluidly with him, grabbed tight to his thighs when he rocked up onto his knees for leverage. Her nails created tiny marks that he wanted to last for weeks instead of hours. Her head bobbed, hair falling loose from how she pinned it up. 

The noises she made was like she was getting just as much enjoyment out of this as he was. As if he was actually fucking her, treating her like a divine being and not the other way around. 

Her throat tightened when he offered praise. When he called her a cock slut for moaning around him. He finished when she drew her hands around what her mouth couldn’t reach. Touching nerve endings that made his body sing. 

She didn’t pull away. Kept his cock in her mouth even when his hands pressed to her cheeks to force her to get off, to give him reprieve. His pleading eyes weren’t enough. She tightened her lips around his soft cock, sucked gently, as if he had anything more to give. 

Rook let his cock drop from her lips only to tease at the slit with her finger. Circling idly with a smile as she looked up at him. Running her tongue over chapped lips as if she was savoring the taste of his cum.

“I have a feeling this was supposed to be payback.”

Joseph kept his lips shut. Stroked over her hands, shoving them away when his body jerked from her soft ministrations. “Meant to be, yes. But you already have me wrapped around your finger. You have to know that.”

She laughed unabashedly. Kissing him one more time, offering the taste of himself on her tongue. “I was aware. Just glad you see that now. Someone’s learning.”


	42. [Forced Marriage pt 6] John/Rook

Night after night, day after day, Joseph made sure that his own written text was ingrained into her mind. Seared on her brain until she was sure she could recite his word. She knew of his past so firmly, of the past his brothers lived through. John especially, considering that she got the impression that he was much more forthcoming than Jacob. She could tell their story like she was just another Seed. 

The way Joseph spoke of John, oh he played the role of the worried brother so well. And really, she didn’t think it was an act. Joseph did care for him, doted on him too. Brushed along a cut disapprovingly when John stopped by, teased him on his vanity when he tugged at his silky, freshly trimmed hair, even showed pieces of his true personality when he told jokes back and forth and provoked John do the same. Later he’d tell her all the misfortune John experienced, how he was robbed of a family when he was young, never truly receiving such a thing until Joseph wrangled him in with the hopes of taming him. He made it a point to say that when they finally got married, John was elated. Overjoyed to have someone else to bear their name. 

Then she got pregnant, and she saw all Joseph was speaking of come to life in how often John showed up at their modest little home. Not exactly neglecting his duties, a tote bag slung over his shoulder filled with endless paperwork, volunteering to keep her company, to take over some of Joseph’s tasks he carried out each night in order to take care of her. 

It became shockingly clear just how much he yearned for more members to be added to his little family. He wanted the domestic life that Joseph had formed around her, even if the kid being introduced wasn’t his. But it did have some of his blood, to a certain extent. He said that a number of times despite her not once voicing her distaste. 

She got acquainted with his face, the rise and fall of his voice and his hectic routine. She knew what he liked in his coffee and how long he took baths...And that he preferred baths to showers. Rook knew how gentle he could be. That there were two sides of John where he showed off the part of him that he could be the same kind hearted boy Joseph mentioned from their past with a wistful look in his eyes. 

She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be scared of him. He never gave her the chance, not yet. Though she kept her distance until he made it clear that if he wanted to harm her, he’d be back in Holland Valley, dragging her by her hair with him. So she should sit down on the couch and let John sing soft songs to her developing child and read her nurturing books on how to raise a kid. John was the one to remind her endlessly that this child would be loved. This one would have parents that were not only present, but who weren’t neglectful.

He was soft spoken when he wanted to be, wrangling in Rook close only to breathe in her scent at the crown of her head. Once or twice he pressed a kiss there, sighing when she didn’t pull away. He probably fooled himself into thinking she wanted him. She knew from experience not to double cross Joseph. So she sat and took it. Let him wrap his arms around her waist when she was cleaning dishes, let him heft her weight up onto the washing machine one afternoon, didn’t question how he kicked at the basket of clothing by her feet to give him room to take from her. 

That was the one time Joseph caught them acting more like lovers and not like family. He had to know what he brother was doing, that he was a man riddled with envy for what he’s always wanted. He had to know how John felt so robbed of a perfect life. But Joseph always left her alone with him. Pressed a kiss to her lips like he was staking a claim, then disappeared out the door.

John’s touches never roamed too far, it raked past her wide hips and down her legs when they sat together on the couch. Over her bulging stomach only to stop with closed eyes. As if he was feeling the life inside her.

It was like that, one day, where he showed an interest in her child, and not just her.

“Do you think it’s a boy or girl?”

“Joseph said it’ll be a girl.”

John frowned. “Did God tell him that too?”

If she didn’t know any better she would think he was baiting her. Luring her into a trap to say awful things about the Father that she would pay for dearly when he arrived home. But now she knew more about this family than she ever really wanted to, and John, like any other man, had pesky doubts he kept close to his chest. 

He was also just a petty child, and that was public knowledge.

“He said that God would give him another chance. After what happened with his wife and daughter…”

“Ah.” John didn’t look pleased, the smile he had was cynical. “I hope it’s not a girl.”

“Why?” Always careful. Not daring to voice her opinion. She was a well trained dog.

“What more reason do I need than spite, my dear?”

That ended their conversation when the door opened not even a second later. John didn’t bother to pull his hands away from her stomach. Only rubbed fondly, as if coercing her fetus to be a little boy and not the girl Joseph was banking on. 

She’d have to thank John later for all his hopes and his prayers she heard him fervently whisper at night. Whether he thought her crazy or not was beside the point. Because two months later, four weeks early in fact, probably from the stress and ill conditions Joseph was intent on making sure he put her in, her child greeted the world with a scream. 

Joseph named him Jude. A scowl pulling his lips down as he signed off on the birth certificate. Marking their little boy with a name too close to a treasonous man. He watched her hold Jude close, watched her cradle him to her breast to shush his cries. And lord knows he had every reason to sob. Because Rook was sure Joseph wouldn’t be too careful in trying to not mix up Judas and Jude.

The worst part was, she didn’t even have to ask why he would do such a thing to a child who didn’t have the chance to commit any sins. Being born the way he was was apparently enough to make Joseph upset. Upset at God or her, or maybe Jude, she wasn’t sure. 

Rook was starting to think he didn’t speak to God. 

And if that was the case, she and her child were utterly fucked, weren’t they? Lives ruined because they both belonged to a crazy man who was irritable and cranky with the birth of their son. All of his attitude because he believed God didn’t trust him enough with a second chance in the form of a daughter. Meaning that somewhere along the lines--in his marriage with Rook and creating a new life--Joseph had been wrong.

She had to leave. She had to take Jude, change that god awful name of a curse, and save them both before Joseph decides that it was his true purpose to have a girl. Because he told her, perched on the side of her bed, acting like Jude didn’t exist, that when he did have a girl--when not if--that would mean God deemed him ready to start anew. It was only a matter of time before Joseph would start again, force himself inside her just he could test the waters and figure out when the time was just right and a baby girl was in her arms.


	43. [Letters pt 4] Joseph/Rook

Every day was spent in mind numbing terror. Every time she woke in the darkness of the room he stuck her in, goosebumps would sprout along her skin. Like her body knew something bad was coming that she was too ignorant to realize. Each noise that came from under the solid wooden door made her flinch.

 

And the constant flow of gunshots had her crying nonstop. After two weeks and she would’ve thought she’d be used to it. But it sounded like war was raging on and someone was moments away from kicking in her door and shooting her between the eyes. 

 

She’s seen Joseph once in two weeks. He twisted her mind for years via nothing but letters, he tracked her down when she was in the heart of his homeland and he locked her in a barren room with barely enough space to walk. The audacity he had to use that level of manipulation created enough anger inside her that sometimes she forgot about her overwhelming fear. 

 

Faith was the one who watched over her. A tiny woman who was shorter than Rook by at least three inches with long black hair. Their conversations were one sided. Curiously short when all Rook asked were questions, ones that were left unanswered and shrouded in mystery. When she asked the ‘right’ sort of questions, Faith answered with a smile that almost seemed genuine. 

 

That’s how she learned who this woman was who looked just as young as Rook did. She was his sister. The youngest out of their little family

 

Joseph never mentioned a sister.

 

Then again Joseph never mentioned he was apart of some crazed religious group who had an army on their side. 

 

The fear never fully went away. Even when two weeks added up to four and she could read Faith’s mannerisms and she was used to washing in a small basin with a sponge. Joseph made all that fear rush back in an instant. He had that aura about him. 

 

All he had to do was walk into her room and she was scrambling back into a corner. Holding tight to the banister until the wood creaked. And unless she wanted to jump over the headboard of her rickety bed, she wouldn’t find shelter underneath the blankets.

 

Joseph looked older. Maybe it was the dim light that was always flickering. Or it could be the strain she was putting on him. She imagined taking someone prisoner would do that to a man. He deserved that stress, every ounce of it.

 

And if her lips weren’t sealed shut from being so afraid she would have told him so. She probably would have been more inclined to speak if his brothers weren’t lingering behind him in the open doorway too. 

 

“I didn’t get a chance to properly welcome you. Nor did my brothers, whom I’m hoping you remember from my letters.”

 

A simple nod as her eyes trailed over Joseph’s shoulder to take in their harsh stares. They looked angry. Fucking pissed that she was anywhere near them. Which made her wonder why they tried so hard to find her in the first place. 

 

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to greet you, but we’ve had visitors who’ve been concerned for your well being recently. It’s almost dealt with.”

 

Jacob--or who she hoped was Jacob if her memory was correct--stepped forward as if that was necessary to speak. “We just need your help and all this’ll blow over nicely.”

 

Rook wanted to refuse when Joseph approached her with an outstretched hand. She wanted to kick and scream, claw at his eyes and kick him between the legs just like her mama told her to do. Stranger danger and all that. 

 

But she froze. Like every atom in her body stopped and her mind ceased to process what was happening to her. And that was before the drugs. The same she assumed they used to deliver her into Joseph’s arms. 

 

The drugs inside her body made her plaint. She flopped like a ragdoll when someone lifted her off the ground. Then she felt like she was falling, like she was upside down too. She caught small snippets of the world, flashes of grey--cement?--and boots marching along. 

 

Even if she wanted to protest this far along, it’d be impossible. She couldn’t speak, not in her state. So she had to sit back as Joseph was the one to wash her and dress her, she saw no signs of Faith, who normally was the one who gave her these supplies and kept her back turned when she bathed.

 

By the time her hair dried and Joseph had a chance to braid it so it fell against her spine, the drugs were loosening their hold on her. The death grip they cradled her let up just enough for her to walk on her own.

 

“Where are we going?” Asked to no one in particular because her head was pointed towards the ground, trying to track her feet so she wouldn’t fall and dirty the skirt she had been put in.

 

“Out.” She wasn’t sure who answered her. John or Jacob. Definitely not Joseph because she could already tell that he loved the sound of his own voice and would never limit himself to one worded answers.

 

But she had to admit that the mere prospect of feeling the sun sounded wonderful. And the first step out, with Joseph’s hand on her shoulder from behind, was breathtaking. She reveled in how the grass tickled her bare feet from since Joseph neglected to put shoes on her.

 

It was fine, this was fine for now. 

 

Her vision was still swirling around, colors distorted and sounds not coming through clearly. But Jacob was bending down so her eyes could find his. The only way she knew how to listen was his harsh grip on her jaw. It took too much effort to decipher his words, and she was sure she didn’t hear him right. Because….no...no that’s not allowed. That sounded so fucking illegal from how unwilling she was.

 

She ran through his words again and again. ‘ _ You’re gonna be the good pet Joseph claims you’ve always been and you’re gonna let us talk. I don’t want to hear a goddamn word from your mouth when we talk to the police. I want you to nod and smile and let John convince them that you’re right where you’ve always wanted to be so we don’t have to start a fucking war.’ _

 

Rook denied what he said right until the last moment. Until she saw two police cars with  Hope  County scribbled across the side. The kind of car she should be driving right about now if Joseph’s previous letters had any sort of truth to them. They wore dark green uniforms different than the navy blue back home. She fell in love with the job all over again, feeling envious over the officers bold enough to step outside the protection of their vehicles. 

 

Two others remained seated inside, a radio held between them.

 

The man standing to the left spoke first, drawing her attention with the hat he wore and the beige coloring of his outfit. A sheriff. Someone she might have taken orders from if Joseph hadn’t found her first.

 

“This is the fourth time this month that there’s been some kind of complaint about Eden’s Gate, starting to wonder if there’s any truth to what the locals are saying. And I really don’t want to believe that.”

 

The bits and pieces she heard in the exchange bordered the line of a full blown argument. But John was calm, he spoke as if him and his family were always innocent. The Sheriff was professional as an angry working man could be. And the woman standing by his side was a firecracker that made Rook smile. They would have made good friends.

 

She caught Rook’s eyes, gaze lingering down to here dopey grin. Which made her frown, hand tightening around her service position she must’ve pulled out at some point. Rook didn’t like her sudden anger, so her eyes roamed down. Trying to commit her name tag to memory. 

 

There had to be phones around her somewhere, a line where she could dial their number and ask for a deputy Hudson. 

 

Rook mumbled that name under her breath over and over again, swaying on her feet, only supported by Joseph’s hand. Maybe she said it too loud, because Hudson’s head snapped over to her. Then she was gesturing with her gun between Joseph and Rook. Yelling now, restrained by a man who stepped out of the car and whispered something in her ear.

 

“Pratt, lovely to see you again. That offer is still open by the way, baptisms only take a second.”

 

Hudson. Pratt. Two names surely had to double her chances in getting the fuck out of here.    
  
Rook wanted to know more. She wanted to stay and plead with her eyes. But Joseph was leading her away. John following close behind to grab Rook’s forearm, leaving Jacob to snarl words at the only people she considered her friends despite not knowing them.

 

It didn’t matter. They were suspicious and Rook would be fine. She’d be fine. Everything would be okay so long as they had the foresight to come back. The scream she let out at the last second before they got her inside that crumbling house had to have helped her.

 

Rook’s life continued in that tiny box. Except one thing changed. Faith looked different. With a tattoo over her forearm; C 17 H 21 No 4 . Her smile was wider, she looked more lively. Like she had restored all her faith in a single evening. 

 

And Rook realized as she spoke when she got near, that wasn’t Faith. Not the one she was introduced to. 


	44. [Pregnant pt 3] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeing the Seed brother's reactions to Joseph bringing Rook into the fold

**John**

 

Joseph spoke to God. He listened to The Voice and tried his damnedest to make sure they would all be lead into the Gates of Eden. He was one of the last people on earth John could trust. No one else would come before his brothers.

Even when Faith intruded on their family, John had swallowed his fears, his regret, all that panic for someone to pull Joseph away and divide his attention, John had accepted a new member.

His brothers didn’t seem the marrying type, he never thought there’d be someone else. Only them.

And now he was supposed to say yes to this stranger?

Jacob spoke first. “How sure?”

John blinked, tried to roll his shoulders to release some of the tension there. He must’ve missed some part of the conversation. Everything sounded weird, like he couldn’t hear correctly. He leaned closer to Faith, glad that she had been here as long as she had, that she could be his anchor when Jacob stood in front of him, fists curled tight by his side in a show of unbridled anger.

“Don’t patronize me Jacob, I haven’t led you astray so far.” Joseph’s words lacked little mirth. Any kindness he had for his family vaporized just from a single woman.

“I guess.” Jacob looked away, threw a glance over his shoulder as he shrugged. He caught John’s eyes, offered a tiny uptick of his lips meant for reassurance. “But this is a little far fetched. Maybe….”

“Yes?” Joseph looked like a kicked puppy. Unsmiling, frowning. It made John’s heart ache. He swayed on his feet, grateful for the hand Faith laid on his bicep.

"We've got expectant mothers in Eden's Gate. New kids being born almost monthly. Maybe it brought back some memories."

"My daughter and wife have nothing to do with this--"

John didn’t listen to how Jacob responded. Both their voices were gaining traction, getting louder, echoing off the walls of the church. John felt like he was going to cry. He was losing his brother, and Jacob wasn’t helping by arguing.

"Do you two feel the same? Is Jacob speaking for all of you?"

John didn’t react. He didn’t hear what Jacob said, but the question seemed directed towards him rather than their sister. He sucked in a breath, chest stuttering as he whimpered. Then he was alone, the doors closing behind Faith and Jacob as he stood to be judged by God. Judged by Joseph and this woman meant to be family.

“John. Come here.”

He almost fell when he walked closer. His feet catching on nothing as he tipped his head to the side in curiosity. It was hard not to focus on Rook, on the swell of her stomach beneath her clothes.

"This could be your salvation. It could be the step that will wash away your sin of wrath for good. This woman who you look at with disgust could very well be your free passage into the Gates of Eden. It's not too late brother, do not make the mistake of casting her out when she is the last chance given to you by God." John had to fight the urge to flinch when Joseph pressed their foreheads together. He petting at John's hair, which did make his muscles loosen just a tad.

Joseph, with a flip of his hand, motioned for John to leave the church. His own flesh and blood was forcing John out of his life for the moment, uncaring of the tears gathering in his eyes.

*********

**Jacob**

It was a joke. One big fucking joke. Joseph must really believe that their lives were nothing more than a fucking game. Because the way he was toying with everyone’s emotions--John’s especially, their baby brother whom they swore to protect--then he must not see how serious the rest of them were. 

“She is special, that I’m sure of.”

Jacob bit back a scoff. He still loved his brother, he wasn’t going to isolate him like that. “How sure? She came outta nowhere trying to arrest you, and less than an hour later you figured out she was special?" Jacob shifted where he stood, suddenly uneasy when he raked his eyes over Rook, then turned to check on John. 

He looked close to a panic attack, like he couldn’t take in a proper breath. And that made Jacob seethe inside. He promised, so long ago when he held the tiny boy in his arms fresh home from the hospital, trying--and failing-- to get John to just drink his damn milk, that he would protect him. He’d protect him and Joseph with his life.

Now he was supposed to protect him from Joseph? Someone who suddenly was so ignorant to the pain written across John’s face?

"Don't patronize me Jacob." Joseph snapped, and Jacob had to watch as his arms tightened around Rook, as he dipped his head into the crown of her hair to breathe in her scent. "I haven't led you astray so far."

"I guess." Jacob shrugged. Risked taking a few steps forward. Carefully keeping watch for any mania in his brother's eyes. "But this is a little far fetched. Maybe..." he trailed off, eyes slipping shut. Feeling guilty for doubting his brother. 

"Yes?" Joseph sounded small, scared. He had no right to be after the position he forced his family into.

"We've got expectant mothers in Eden's Gate. New kids being born almost monthly. Maybe it brought back some memories."

"My daughter and wife have nothing to do with this--"

"You've been spending too long at the med bay. Going over to the nursery more than usual."

"Something compelled me to go there!" Joseph's nostrils flared as he stood, releasing Rook suddenly.  "There was some aching in my chest that told me to spend my days around those pure, innocent souls. And now I know why." He smiled, It was eerie. And for the first time Jacob felt like there might be something wrong with Joseph. 

Yet he allowed for Joseph to grab him. He stood still as Joseph held onto his arms with a grip that was sure to bruise. The look of anger that flickered across Joseph’s face made Jacob freeze out of panic for half a second. "God was mentally preparing me for this moment."

"You've taken the first pregnant woman who you could find, whose husband can't tell you 'no,' just to fill out some fantasy?"

"It's not like that.” 

Jacob wanted to push his brother away, he wanted to kick and scream. But Joseph spoke before he could make a choice. “Are you scared to get hurt? I know you and John suffered too when I told you of the loss of your niece--"

"Don't go there, Joseph. That was our blood, our one chance at a family. We aren't accepting this stranger or her kid." Jacob finally did shake out of Joseph’s grasp, he hoped and prayed John would follow, that he wouldn’t act like a loyal dog who only wanted love.


	45. [Forced Marriage pt 7] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph decides that his son is a test from god/protector/Jacob 2.0 and starts acting like a more caring father preventing Rook from running away with her son. However, he eventually hears that the doctors say that Rook is in the best place healthwise to give birth, and Joseph wants his daughter. Now

Her baby boy was a sweet thing, already so quiet and loving. Lacking the manic gleam his uncles had. Nor did he carry the aura of possessiveness his father naturally came with. 

Rook knew he was going to grow up right despite his environment. It was in every little thing he did. How he smiled when he heard her voice, how his mouth opened wide in surprise as he reached towards her with grasping, pudgy hands when she presented him a freshly picked sunflower. 

And God was he smart. All his milestones came as expected. He crawled when he was supposed to, and was walking a month later. He spoke in half sentences at 8 months, making her heart swell with pride. He was bright, taking in his surroundings, so adept at others’ emotions. She had watched him tense, muscles locking up tight, exactly as she did whenever Joseph was around.

Jude would crane his head up to look at her, eyebrows scrunched together as she fluffed up his cow lick. He made his disdain for his father known--feeding off of her hatred no doubt--as he was on the changing table. He squirmed when Joseph took her place. Kicking his little legs and wailed.

Rook stood to the side and watched. Arms crossed over her chest, frowning, shaking her head as she made eye contact with her child. Praying that at his young age that he’d learn to trust her and only her.

Eventually Joseph threw up his hands, fighting to keep a smile on his lips despite his anger. “You made my child hate me, Rook. Don’t you see that?”

“Wha--”

“You speak to him at night. After you’ve read to him. You fill his ears with lies and he listens.”

She knew that was true. That she’s done exactly that too many times to count. Even when he was an infant, days old. She kept her lips shut tight though about how she spoke freely of all the terrible things his father has done, lest she made Jude cry if she raised her voice.

“I want him to start coming to my sermons. He gets to see my side of things. Not your biased opinion.”

“Fine with me.” It wasn’t. That was a damn lie. But it would happen sooner or later. That was inevitable. When John came last week, she heard the two of them talking about Jude’s role. How he would need to be taught the word of Joseph. 

She crept back over to Jude, changing his diaper as he raised his foot and tried to shove it in his mouth. He babbled to her, fingers grabbing at hers as she dressed him. He wasn’t smiling though, not until she did. His grin was hesitant, showing off the start of a single tooth hidden by his gums off to his right. 

He was intuitive. That was the gift God had given him. He had the ability to make his own fucking decisions. Jude would be fine so long as she was there to guide him.

*****  
He wasn’t a fussy baby. He just wasn’t, that attitude was never in his nature. Which begged the question of why he was being so damn difficult on one of the most important days of his life.

His first sermon. One where his father would be the center of attention, showing off their baby boy to the masses like he was some show dog. Like Joseph actually was happy she had gifted him with a boy.

“What’s taking so long Rook?” Joseph was hovering in the doorway, fingers clasped in front of him, the twitching of his foot giving him away, making her see--not anger, no, this was different--this was close to anxiety. He was nervous. 

“He’s cranky.”

She almost expected him to ask her why. To question why a baby was unhappy to be woken and dressed so early in the morning. But he had a child before, didn’t he? He knew them perhaps better than she did. 

So he accepted her answer with a hum, crossing the threshold of Jude’s room in confident strides to stand next to her, shoulder to shoulder. It took everything in her not to cringe at the contact. Instead she raised her eyes to his. And it was like this was the first time he truly saw their little boy. He tipped his head like a curious animal, one hand reaching out to sweep over his cheek. Trying to hush Jude, to calm him down and make him focus on something else other than how she was attempting to jam his feet in a pair of pint sized jeans.

Joseph was singing soon enough, eyes flicking to the clock hanging on the wall back to where Jude laid on the changing table. In one quick movement, one that made her flinch for her child’s safety, he was sliding off his yellow tinted aviators to place in Jude’s line of sight.

The effect was immediate. He wasn’t whining, gurling unhappy sounds and pushing her hands away with his pudgier ones. Instead he strained to grasp for Joseph’s glasses, smudging them in the process, putting tiny fingerprints on the lenses. And saliva a moment later when he shoved them in his mouth, babbling with excitement at the new discovery. 

“He’s ready.” Rook murmured. Only slightly perturbed at how Joseph just nodded, a smile gracing his lips as he turned on his heel, expecting her to follow.

The church was sweltering when they stepped in. Making the walls seem closer as sweat broke out along the nape of her neck and her inner thighs, making her leggings stick uncomfortably to her skin.

Jude was doing no better, squirming from his place balanced on her hip. Hands tugging at her hair, making angry little noises as they walked further in. Joseph seemed unaffected, as did the rest of his siblings. Walking with barely any noise, acting like the stifling heat was nothing to be bothered about. 

Even John, in his long button up--red this time--had a smile on his lips. Then again, that might’ve been because of how excited he was. Giddy was a good word for it. As he fluttered around her and Jude, a hand on her lower back to make her sit in the front pew right next to him. He was the man who always wanted a family, she shouldn’t be surprised in how careful he was with Jude. So much more affectionate with him than Joseph.

He bounced Jude on his knee, cooing softly, kissing at his hair and tickling his ribs. It was mesmerizing. Watching that interaction. It was such a juxtaposition in his character. 

“Darling, a word.” Joseph held out a hand, a smile on his face when his eyes flicked over to John, to how Jacob was settled down next to him, reaching out so Jude could grab his finger. 

It was hard to get privacy in such a small church yet to be filled with people. He still went the extra mile to pull her over into a corner. “I’ve had a revelation.”

“From God?” She tried to keep the cynicism out of her voice, that was the best way to get under his skin.

“No, no, not exactly. It’s from my own heart. Something I wish I could have seen earlier.”

“And that is?”

She hated fishing, she hated the way he was always so vague speaking in riddles.

“It’s about Jude. I believe he was a gift from God, not a curse. That boy is meant to grow into a protector. Just as Jacob was to John and I. Jude is born to fight, he will be selfless and strong.”

“I--I don’t know how you expect me to train a soldier, that’s madness Joe.”

He only smiled at her, grabbing her by the shoulders to direct her attention to where Jude was now in Jacob’s arms, his dog tags between newly formed teeth.

“Jacob will take hold of him. There is no one better I can think of to build up someone who is just like he is.”

Rook was ready to thrash and flail, to protest. But then Faith was flinging open the doors, letting in their congregation until all the seats were filled and she was still standing dumbly next to Joseph. Trying to work out in her head how much trouble she’d be in if she roundhouse kicked The Father.

Faith was by her side in an instant, she probably saw something in her eyes. How her features had hardened in an instant. 

Everything was numb for a while. All she could register was Jude being placed back in her lap and Joseph’s lilting voice as he began his sermon. There was the occasional cheer or jest from somewhere behind her, coming from his blind followers.

Then Joseph was looking at her, addressing her, a hand outreached followed by more cheers. Had she missed something? Some sort of cue?

She must have, because John wedged a hand between her and the pew, forcing her forward onto her feet. Her next steps were like walking towards a cliff, facing those jagged edges that would lead to death and so much pain. Though when she blinked it was only Joseph with that loving smile that he used to charm everyone.

The same one he granted her long ago back when he guided her into his fucked up family against her will.

“This child, my very own, a new Seed, will be our salvation.” Then he was taking Jude from her shaking fingers, and if not for Faith’s intense gaze coming from behind Joseph, she would have stood there hovering. Worried that Jude’s slightest cry would set him off, make him think this wasn’t meant to be.

When she returned to her seat, a bundle of tight nerves, Jacob placed a hand on her thigh to keep her from going anywhere. He was so confident in his brother’s word, so unlike her, so unlike Jude would grow up to be. Then again, that was when she assumed he would be under her tutelage and not Jacob’s.

“‘When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.’ And we have surely been asking for help, haven't we children?” More yells of agreeance, they helped distract her from how lovingly Joseph held their child. “We have been given Faith, our siren, who helps put us on the righteous path when we have doubt. We have been given John, our baptist, who hears our confessions. We have been given Jacob, our soldier, who protects us and trains us for our future in a new eden.”

He waited until the crowd calmed down so he could speak again. Pacing back and forth, ruffling Jude’s hair when he clapped along with everyone else.

He was just a baby, barely old enough to speak. He didn’t know what he was doing, he didn’t know that such a bad man was holding him. He could still be saved.

“And now we have Jude. He will see life after the collapse, he will be the first pure soul to see the a changed Eden. With the new world there will be numerous challenges that we have never faced nor imagined. Jacob and his soldiers will get us far enough until we are safe in our bunkers and preparing. Jude, as well as the rest of his generation will carry us the rest of the way.”

He made such a convincing argument, if she was apart of the project, everything he said would have made total sense. He could convince Jude in a heartbeat, he could show him all the power that could be his, and really, what child wouldn’t be in awe of a soldier? What kind of little boy wouldn’t bounce for joy when told that they would equate to a prince ruling over the masses?

His father’s preposition would trump her own. If she was a kid, she’d rather stay safe on Eden Gates side instead of running away with a mother who could be gunned down by a literal army.

What chance did she have?

***** 

“The doctor says you’re ready.” Joseph murmured, closing in behind her, a hand resting lightly on her hip as he hovered above her. 

She woke up in the darkness, her back sunken into the mattress, arms and legs tied up. She was a toy to him. Something to parade around for his flock. She knew that from the very start. This just confirmed this. Made it all the more real.

He was gentle, surprisingly so. His hands felt light over her skin, making her shudder as he sliced through her clothes. Being careful not to cut her, shushing her, cooing in her ear as he covered her body with his own. 

“Hush sweetness. Stay quiet for me, you wouldn’t want to wake Jude, hm?” The smile he held threw her for a loop. His switching moods made her go still. His dark words were such a contrast to how he lovingly stroked over her cheek.

“What are you doing Joseph?”

“The doctor says it’s safe now. That your body is ready to give me another child. The one I want this time, a little girl. The Lord wants to replace my family, He’ll give me back the wife and daughter He stole from me years ago. It’s only fair.”

Joseph bent down, pressing his forehead against the flat of her stomach, his hands holding tight to her hips. Stroking her flesh, mumbling some prayer as if that would instill a perfect seed inside her right then and there.

He had a calmed look in his eyes, a smile hanging around his lips. Unnaturally calm. Maybe that was for her sake, he didn’t want to deal with a crying Jude. 

Which is why she didn’t fight back. She had to protect her friends, her son, her future child. That’s why she held his gaze as he stripped and spread her legs as much as the rope would allow. 

“You aren’t going to fight?” The tone of his voice held a note of disbelief as his hand stilled where it rested on his shaft. “You want a family as much as I do, huh Rook?” He laughed, loose hair hanging in his eyes. 

She realized, in that moment, with moonlight accentuating his scars as he hovered over her, looked angelic. He was handsome. And if he hadn’t forced her hand the way he had, then she wouldn’t hesitate to fuck him. 

Maybe he saw that in her face, or he felt it from the way she spread her legs gently to allow access. 

Joseph whined something pretty when he pushed into her. His face scrunching up, nose wrinkling as he eased inside her heat. He muttered something under his breath, a string of profanity that caused her to tighten around him.

“Oh.” He chuckled, shoulders shaking as he scooted closer. “Oh you like when I talk like that.” It was more of a taunt then a question, accentuated with the first roll of his hips. 

It was soft from there. All sweet words and a lack of bruises on her skin. 

Not at all like how Jude was born. Not pressed into a windowsill, taken from behind as she struggled in his grasp. If she wasn’t tied up, this would be exactly how she imagined conception should happen. A good memory they could share.

“Maybe I did it wrong the first time. I was too harsh. And that was a sin.” He hummed, a kiss placed on her throat, his beard tickling her. “That’s what went wrong, that’s why I didn’t get my girl.”

Rook winced, trying to draw away. Only to be chased by Joseph. His cock was inches away from slipping out, leaving his head inside for half a second before his jammed back in with a grunt. He got sloppy, quick. 

Half bitten off moans filling the room, their headboard slamming against the wall as he thrusted into her. This wasn’t about showing love, or sharing pleasure. It was about getting her pregnant. Which is why her hand moved to her hips, pulling her back as he drove deeper inside her. 

“That’s it. Take it.” He moaned, stilling above her as he came. “See? There we go, good girl.” He didn’t pull out right away, stayed bent over her, slicking them both up with sweat as he nibbled at her collarbone. 

When he pulled away--finally--he sighed. Like he was disappointed. Then she realized why. His cum was leaking out of her cunt, seeping out and ruining his bedsheets. “We can’t have that.” Spoken more to himself as he used a single finger to swirl around her entrance and shove back inside her. 

Joseph spoke over her initial gasp, ignoring how she squirmed, “This seed’s going to take. And we are going to have the family I’ve always dreamt of.”


	46. [Angel Rook pt 7] Jacob/John/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook escaping Jacob again, falling into John's eager arms

In all fairness, Jacob did try to teach her to fly. Oh boy, did he try. He sat by her side not lifting a single finger all morning, clearing out a chunk of time in his busy schedule just for lil ol’ her. Wasn’t that cute?

His method wasn’t however. Far from it. The whole thing was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. She knew he wouldn’t let her die by smacking the ground when she met the cold rock under her. No, the large blow up mat made for firemen and not winged people was enough to keep her alive; with the added benefit of bruises scalding her skin from the impact. The drop was substantial enough for that.

She was sure she almost twisted her wing once, it felt like it was going to snap when she landed wrong. Flailing in the sky after he pushed her (maybe the tenth time? She lost count), one too many trips in the med bay was all it took for her to make up her mind.

John was safe. John listened to Joseph, despite anger mixed with that manic passion of his controlling his every action, he’d know when to stop because Joseph would never allow her to come to harm. And John actually cared about what Joseph told him to do.

He called her...what was it? His ‘beautiful angel,’ it had made her ache to think of the different treatment she’d receive with John. The only way out was through Jacob though, it meant gaining the upper hand. Being able to surprise him, to go past normal protocol so he didn’t know how to get her back.

She had to learn how to fly.

*****

“Again.” Jacob waved his hand flippantly, head lolling back against a beaten up chair that had seen better days dragged out of his office. Rook was bruised, malnourished and bloody. All sharp edges and pain from how Jacob had been running her ragged with little breaks in between. 

If she impressed him, which didn’t happen often when she had no directions to go off of other than--’just fucking fly’--she’d get an apple tossed her way for her efforts with a swig of water. If she didn’t have an escape plan flitting through her mind offering up hope, she wouldn’t even try, she’d close her wings tight against her spine and angle down until she smashed into the ground. It’d end her suffering quick.

But she didn’t want to die, she was scared to die when there was a chance of some sort of life beyond Jacob’s hold. 

Rook steeled herself, not meeting Jacob’s eyes, not wanting to see how relaxed he was at this whole situation. That’d only serve to make her angry, which happened once before, when she had seen red and charged at him. He didn’t hesitate to throw her over his shoulders and toss her over the cliff edge with a snarl and sharp orders to not try that again unless she really wanted clipped wings.

“Maybe we can stop soon.”

She thought she heard him sigh--tiredness laced there--coming from behind her, though with the wind rushing in her ears she couldn’t be sure. “Mhm. Just do it again darling.”

*****

It took three more days before she was airborne. And when she was, Jacob’s chosen were quick on her tail anyway. He had planned for this, despite how long it took and all chances seeming to never be in her favor. He was ready for her to be free without him nearby to stop her. 

Smart bastard.

She just hoped their birds, even with their slim bodies, wouldn’t be as agile as she would soon learn to be. Rook doubled back before Jacob could catch onto where she really wanted to go, not landing yet, only showing off. Making him think that she was simply enjoying herself. She even had it in her to let out a self satisfied scream into the wind. The act was half played up, she was victorious after all. 

That yell distracted her for a moment, made her almost slam into one of the shiny bodies of a jet that was following a little too close behind her. She heard the vacuum of air rush by her as the pilot dove lower when she lacked the skill to move away in time. 

Her wings folded instinctively, making her drop twenty feet, skin barely brushing the tops of trees. That incident made Jacob pull his fighters back. They landed, giving her free reign of the sky. A perfect opportunity for her, or, with how cunning Jacob always was, a step ahead in any situation, it could easily be a trap. 

She glanced down at where Jacob stood, eyebrows raised in question, though there was no way he could see her properly. He flicked his hand outward, gesturing towards the rest of the mountains that splayed out before them. Was that...permission?

“Go ‘head Rook, explore.” He called up to her, a hand cupped around his mouth. There was a smile tipping his lips up, making him appear to be everything but a monster.

She didn’t hesitate, Jacob said things because he meant them. This wasn’t supposed to trip her up. She turned--awkwardly--and raced off in the opposite direction. Letting her hair whip widely behind her as her ears grew accustomed to the wind.

She made it to Holland Valley in twenty minutes--tops. John’s ranch in three minutes flat. She could get used to traveling like this. 

*****

John heard about her long before he saw her. His phone was still pressed to his ear when she appeared over the mountains, flying low as if that would keep people from seeing her. 

“Are you listening John?”

“Loud and clear Jacob, just watching.”

“She’s coming to you, no doubt about it. You don’t need to keep lookout, don’t you have a job to do?”

John hummed into the phone as a response, a grin appearing when he saw her eat dirt as she tried to land. “And can I assume that you want me to return her safe and sound?” He wouldn’t, he’d fight to have this angel by his side, no one else's.

“No.” That made John pull back from the window in his kitchen, phone pressed tighter to his ear to see if he heard his brother correctly. “She trusts you more I bet, seeing as you haven’t had the chance to fuck up her mind too badly like you’re known for. Just keep an eye on her for me until I catch up on my work. I’ll give you a heads up when I come to get her.”

John mumbled his agreement, ignoring Jacob’s words. Apparently Jacob couldn’t read him that well if he thought he wasn’t in love with this angel. That he would go through hell to keep her safe. Already he scrambling to figure out how to keep her under his thumb, how to make sure she can’t leave him. He breathed out slowly when he saw her get on her feet and start to make her way towards his ranch. 

He was a fool. There was no need to keep her locked and chained. After all, she was walking to him. She wanted him. And once she stepped into his home, she wasn’t going anywhere else.


	47. [False Prophet pt 1] John Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How John reacts to hearing the Voice

Maybe John hit his head a little too hard during that fall. It could be the rising smoke surrounding him, slowly filling his lungs, that made him delirious. And it was quite possible that was walking away with a nice concussion, which would explain the rising feeling of nausea along with his skewed vision.

So this voice—not one that John recognized—that he heard call out to him could be explained away considering how fucked his body was. And yet...yet the voice sounded detached. Like it was coming from everywhere at once, no particular direction change would bring him closer. Which meant that it had to be in his head.

But he wasn’t crazy. Even as he panicked to climb out of his plane, foot catching on the lip of metal as he tumbled deeper in the ravine he crashed into, he was lucid. Well aware of the dog fight he had endured. That his key was still safe around his neck, that the deputy was still alive, fairing better than him if the sound of a plane whizzing from up above was any indication.

No memory loss then.

It could have been interference from the radio built into his plane that fizzled out and died before he had the chance to send out a distress signal. His mind hadn’t had the chance to process whoever had received his latest transmission, they were only responding. But the radio had never worked that well, and he had been too confused to realize who was speaking.

John didn’t have time to dwell on it. Not when he was God only knows how deep into this ravine with a lack of food or shelter. A pistol he only shot a handful of times miraculously still clipped to his belt.

Meaning all he could do was walk. He picked a direction after he shouldered his coat on and he just moved forward.

He heard it again when he stumbled deeper into the caverns opening. Stopping at a running stream that he couldn’t find the source of. Crouched on the ground, back hunched as he used cupped hands to bring lake water to his mouth, he heard it again.

The sound of that voice made him flinch, caused him to tumble into the water with a graceless scream. He was cursing, crying, so confused and scared. He must’ve knocked something loose. That’s all, this could go away, one doctor visit where he was given proper fluids with the added benefit of medical treatment for the scratches on his body and this would go away.

Except it didn’t. Even when he kipped down for the night next to that same stream, shivering in wet clothes, he heard it.

This time he listened. Desperate for it to stop, he opened his ears for once while he curled into a fetal position and shook from the chill.

_Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it._

John closed his eyes, as if he could blink out of existence just by greeting the blackness his shut lids could offer him. He didn’t understand, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to analyze that voice or the verses it spoke in.

He didn’t have time for this. John just wanted out of this ravine, he wanted to go home and greet his family, let them know that he wasn’t dead. That the deputy didn’t kill him even if his last transmission fizzled out into nothing.

It was hell on earth in that cave. It was dark 100% of the time, damp too. His clothes stuck to his body like a second skin, making him strip completely what he thought was his first week stranded.

He guessed that If he wasn’t hearing voices then he would have made his way out sooner, maybe he would have had the drive to actually look for a way out.

Instead he waited and suffered. Until that voice became all he knew, until he could count his ribs and he could barely walk from staying curled up on the floor losing track of time.

When he managed to get off his ass—three weeks now?—he realized how close he was to the surface anyway. That right around the corner he could slip out. Except it’d be a tight fit. And for a moment John was scared he wouldn’t fit. Because though he wasn’t all muscle, and certainly not fat, he wasn’t stick thin.

Or three weeks ago he wasn’t. When he jumped into his plane and screamed curses at Rook in the air. He was healthy and spry back then. But three weeks of no food had taken its toll. But it made it possible, back then there would have been no way he’d have gotten out that way. Now it was almost too easy.

And foolishly, he believed he left everything behind in that ravine. His broken plane, his ripped up shirt and pants. Finally walking away a free man with only his coat thrown around his shoulders and his loose fitting boxers. He thought he left that voice behind too, like it was just another article of clothing to be discarded. That maybe it was all a fever dream from the lack of light and people. That maybe a near death experience would haunt a guy until he realized he’d be fine.

Then it spoke to him again. As he was making his way through the forest—too afraid to walk on the side of the road in open daylight. The pulsing in his head made him fall to his knees as he listened for the second time.

_And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone._

John closed his eyes. He kept them shut tight for too long; until the sun moved from heating his cheeks to an uncomfortable presence that became unbearable against his back. Until the voice in his head dissipated into nothingness and he was sure it wouldn’t speak again, leaving just him and the sounds of birds twittering in the sky, with a stream flowing somewhere to his right past a thicket of trees. He doesn’t want to think about what he’s hearing in his mind. He doesn’t want to think of the implications being delivered to him.

Ignorance is bliss.

Ignorance is bliss.

His eyes knock open, head tipping up slightly as he sniffs the air like a dog. He swears he can smell the actual green tinted bliss swirling around him. Already making his vision twist and warp despite his family’s resistance to it. It had him cringing as if he could track the drug’s progress through his bloodstream.

But when he waved his hand around, trying to catch any sparkles floating on the outskirts of his vision, he comes up empty. It wasn’t real.

John laughed, a crazed sound to his own ears. His shoulders hunched in defeat. He really was losing his mind, wasn’t he?

*****

_These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful._

He was swaying on his feet. Silent as Joseph hovered around him. Fussing about every little thing, actively trying--and failing--to coax John to sit on a nearby bed. Jacob was the only thing keeping Joseph at bay. Expertly maneuvering John’s body as he tended to each small wound decorating his skin from his accident.

Faith wasn’t there, dead apparently. Shot and beat up to hell. Left to rot in a lake with twigs tangled in her hair. Killed while John was busy wandering the forest, trying to rid his mind of that voice before he attempted to return home. Three weeks was all it took before he gave up. Walked back like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs, head lowered as his lungs were crushed from Jacob’s embrace.

It was probably the third time he’s seen his brother cry. And yet John was quiet, apathetic with their reunion. Everything was done automatically. He opened his mouth to let Joseph press a straw to his lips, allowed in small spoonfuls of soup. He accepted the blanket thrown over his shoulders and finally relented, sitting still on the mattress while Jacob made sure he was okay.

No worse for wear. Except now he’s insane.

Joseph heard God. He was a prophet, he proved that time and time again. Whatever was happening to John was not normal.  _He_ was not normal. That made something ache in his chest, because that meant his parents were right. He was a born bad, a sinner, damned with a fate only a crazed man could accept.

“John? John?”

Joseph was in front of him, bent at the waist, a hand on the nape of his neck. Rubbing his hair in a way that was meant to be soothing.

“Hm?”

“Something’s wrong. I can see it in your eyes.”

At some point Jacob must’ve left, because now only him and Joseph were locked away in Joseph’s small house on his compound. Willing John to let him in on the secret. To let anyone in for once, to tell the only man who has ever cared for him what has gotten under his skin to keep him from smiling.

John did end up smiling, tipping his head closer to Joseph’s, shuddering instantly when something dark whispered in his ear.

_Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the lord. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect._

John flinched when Joseph drew back. His older brother somewhat calmer at the show of affection. Not noticing how John’s smile fell, or how his shoulders pulled in close when Joseph laid a kiss on his cheek in farewell for the night. Those words were still pounding an unforgettable tune out in his head, long after the door clicked shut behind Joseph, making itself known. Making sure John was no longer ignorant.

A false prophet? His brother? The one who swore to lead him to safety. If he allowed himself to believe that, he may as well off himself before the Gates of Eden ever opened.

And if he did believe? If he heeded the words stuck up inside his head? It’d be easy after all the odds stuck up against Joseph. It would be so, so simple to accept--just like the rest of Hope County--that his brother was a fraud. Something was trying to warn him, not lead him astray.

This wasn’t a test. It was a sign.


	48. [False Prophet pt 2] John Fic

He used to think he could tell Joseph anything. Late nights staying up past curfew with him barely old enough to form proper sentences curled in his brother’s lap proved that much. Keeping secrets felt wrong. Dirty. Too much like a sin. 

His parents never much cared for secrets. 

It was unjust after everything they’ve been through together. Despite all odds, despite each transgression John revealed over the years, Joseph and Jacob had been there for him.

So really, what was one more tale to fill their ears?

And yet....

“Fuck.” John drew his knees up to his chest, head falling limp in between. He had been in the bathroom for far too long. Left unattended while he was still healing didn’t sit right with his family. It was only a matter of time before someone would come banging at the door, presumably Jacob. 

It felt easier to tell Jacob about the voice that had continued to speak long after he climbed out of the wreckage of his plane. Jacob believed what Joseph prophesied, and if he didn’t, he was damn good at pretending. He wouldn’t turn his back on his baby brother when he stood by Joseph. 

Which meant that John shouldn’t be close to tears. Fists balling up in his wet hair as he rocked on the cool tile. He bit back a sob when Jacob called out to him, his weight making the door shake from how he tilted his head to listen past the wood.

“You alright Johnny?”

“F-fine. I’m fine. Coming out now.”

He stumbled when he stood, limbs stiff from sitting in the same position for over an hour. He noticed Jacob’s once over of him when he nudged open the door. More than a cursory glance, roving over his exposed skin to check his freshly applied bandages for any blossoming flowers of red. 

“I told you I’m fine.” John snapped, maybe with too much heat. But Jacob took it in stride. Only grunting in response, a hand on his elbow to ease him back into bed.

“You’ve been acting queer ever since you got back. Quieter, not really caring to jump back into work. Don’t think we don't notice.”

John could’ve cried. Really, he think if he gave it a little more thought, all those pent up emotions would come rushing out. Instead he looked away, towards an open window, focusing on the bustle of activity in Jacob’s compound that was so unlike the calm serenity in his own home. 

“You’d just call me crazy if I told you the truth. Everyone would.”

Jacob didn’t speak. And for a moment John didn’t want to look at his older brother, afraid of what he would see. Jacob only sighed, long and drawn out as he sat next to John, tossing an arm over his shoulder, yanking him closer until John actually did break down. Right in Jacob’s tight hold, too reminiscent of when he was a young boy, too young to understand why reading superhero comics garnered punishment but old enough to know his brother was a safe place to land. 

He sobbed. Wetting the material of Jacob’s shirt, making John cringe when he pulled back slightly.

“After everything I’ve done for you,” Jacob began, voice soft, “You think I’d abandon you because of something you saw in that cave?”

John made a frustrated noise, because if only it was that easy. Seeing something would make sense in the aftermath of what he went through. Jacob knew so much about the human mind, he could give John a hundred and ten explanations on why his brain went haywire and forced him to see something that couldn’t possibly be real.

Jacob was waiting. Patient as ever, just as he had always been. Giving John ample time to get his words together. 

John breathed in deep, eyes staying on where Jacob’s pulse jumped beneath the thin skin around his neck. “I heard things--a, uh, a voice. It was just in my head. No one was there. I guess I went a little crazy.”

“John--”

 

“I know, I know,” He started, pulling away completely. Shaking away from Jacob so he could stand and pace like a caged animal on display. “Something’s wrong with me.”

“You fucking crashed from the sky after being shot at. You’re hearing was blown from having a gun fired so close to your ear. And, in case you forgot, you almost died.”

He wasn’t listening. Logic had been thrown out long ago, back when John didn’t think he would make it home to see his family again.

John laughed, hysterical when he pivoted to look at Jacob. “Wanna know what I heard?” He didn’t wait for Jacob to answer, he needed someone to know. He wanted a second opinion, for someone to tell him it meant nothing. “I heard this voice spout fucking bible verses, of all things. Then--oh you’ll like this--then It warned me about false prophets while Joseph stood by my side and calmed me down. He stared into my eyes and all I could think about was how sinful it was to follow idols not meant to be.”

Jacob was quiet. Watching as John dressed in loose clothes that weren’t his. No, his were back at home, back where he most wanted to be. Maybe all he needed was some normalcy. He wanted things to go back to when he didn’t hear voices.

He was starting to think Jacob would never answer. That he would curl up in bed and Jacob would hunch over his desk to get shit done and neither of them would ever mention what John had told him. Then finally, when the silence was just starting to get to John, he asked “have you told Joseph? Or Faith?”

“No.” His voice warbled, shaky with tears. “‘Course not. What was I supposed to say?”

“Oh Johnny. C’mere.” Jacob stood, grabbing at John before he could run away and hide. He wrapped him in a tight bear hug, squeezing him until the tears stopped. 

“What’s wrong with me? What is God trying to tell me?”

At that, it didn’t seem like Jacob had an answer. Or maybe one prophet who went into manic highs was enough for him, maybe he didn’t want to deal with John when Joseph was too much of a handful at times. 

He just ran a hand down John’s spine, crowded him towards his kitchen and pressed a warm mug in his hand seconds later. “Breathe kiddo.” Just like when they were young, he ruffled his hair and flicked on a lamp, nodding at John to sit by him.

Conversation over then. All that was left was the scritch scratching of Jacob’s pen and John’s stuttered breath.

“Ya gotta tell him Johnny. You can’t act weary around him, he’ll know. He’ll think your faith’s been shaken or something.”

“And if it has?”

“Tell him that. Let him know. There’s not supposed to be secrets, right? Not with family. You can trust Joe, he’ll understand.”

John nodded, finishing off the last of the coffee in a single scorching swallow just so he could get to bed quicker. 

By the time he rolled over, blanket tucked beneath his chin, Jacob was speaking again. Rousing him once more. “You let me know what you hear, yeah? Just....don’t listen to it.”

He hummed, already slipping towards unconsciousness. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.


	49. [Seed Noncon pt 1] Joseph/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook does the kidnapping this time around and drugs Joseph to have her way with him

Joseph made a pretty sight. All bare skin and tattoos that stretched on for  _miles._

Sweet Jesus he was gorgeous. 

He shifted in his sleep, arms trying to pull in towards his chest, like he knew he had an audience--the ropes she tied him with prevented anything like that from happening. Same went for his legs when a moment later his ankle rolled on the sheets, twisting and chafing his skin.

Sensitive, she realized a while ago. Back when she undressed him and her fingers traced around a nipple to hear him whine softly. Face scrunching up in a way that was so strangely human that it made her ache between her legs. 

He was cute when he was sleeping. No longer a manic man raving about the end of times, no way for him to speak nonsense in an attempt to convert her. Just someone ready to be used for her pleasure.

Rook had long since shed her clothes. Awaiting that moment where the drugs loosened their hold on him just enough for him to be aware of who was making him feel so good.

Because at the end of the day those were her intentions. No pain or harm would come to him, she wouldn’t be sending him home with bloodied marks on his body. Just half there memories to make him blush.

She climbed on top of him when he began to stir, lids fluttering, as if he was struggling to wake up fully. 

“We there yet Joseph?” She murmured in his ear, kissing at the hollow of his throat when he made a noise of distress. “Shh, hush now. You’re safe, m’not gonna hurt you.”

Her hands slid against his chest, moving over barely defined abs and a slim waist. Paying attention to each scar and tiny imperfection that she’s never noticed before.

“W-where--” His words were lost in a fit of coughing, making his whole body tremble beneath her. She grinded down slightly at that, a smile gracing her features when his eyes opened just enough and found her. “Deputy? What happened?”

Her lips twisted, head tilting to the side playfully. “You don’t remember?”

He shook his head softly. Wincing a moment later at the pounding in his head. She saw him try to bring his hand down, to press a finger against his temples to ease the pain. Joseph craned his head up slowly, brow scrunching as he located the ropes keeping him back. 

“Why am I tied up?” He asked, a hint of concern edging its way into his voice. He found her again, maybe for the first time realizing where she was and how little she was wearing. And himself for that matter, as he squirmed on the bed, managing to draw a small moan from her. “Why are we naked deputy?”

She ignored his question, laughing instead at the fear in his voice. How he sounded like he was navigating a minefield. “It was so damn easy to get you here.” She goaded, scooting further down on his thighs to reveal his soft cock to the both of them. “Just one mention that I was having doubts, that I wanted something more from life--like a savior--and you didn’t even think twice about it.” She used a single finger to trace up the length of his dick, where it rested on his stomach, chuckling at how he tried to get away. “You rushed to get to an old, abandoned cabin that’s without any backup. You were in such a rush that you didn’t have time to grab any sort of weapon.”

She raised her hands up, away from his cock, to gesture wildly around their sparse surroundings. “Now look at you.”

Joseph’s eyes slammed shut. Adams apple bobbing when he swallowed. “The sin of lust is a powerful one deputy, but this isn’t--”

“Oh yeah...I bet you know of that little sin intimately.” She quipped, not hesitating to outline that particular scarred word just above his pelvic bone. 

“You shouldn’t…” His words trailed off, eyes fluttering open and shut, struggling to keep up with her.

“If you keep talking, I won’t mind gagging you Father, just keep fighting. See if that gets you anywhere.” 

Every single step was a challenge with him. 

Every touch she so graciously offered was met with resistance. Gentle words trying to coax her away from sin and get her off of him and back into her clothes. His pleas were sweet though, she had to admit that. The lull of his voice making her want him more. He was just stoking the fire inside her.

But he was still under the effects of the drugs she plied him with and he was getting harder by the minute, unable to really resist in the way he wanted to. It was cute. The way he squirmed when she touched him. Her finger tip gliding over his cock again and again until his dick twitched, trying to follow her movements. 

“Do you want this Joseph?” She asked softly, eyes committing his body to memory. 

“N-no. No...you should---” His words were slurred, stopping a second later when he trembled, goosebumps rising. 

“Your body and mind seem to be in disagreement at the moment.”

She’s never seen such disappointment in his eyes before. He closed them a moment later, his head lolling back to reveal his throat. Giving her the opportunity to mark up his skin. Laving over his neck with her tongue and sharp canines. 

“C’mon. Just enjoy this. Forget about sin and relax.” She murmured, not yet willing to pull away from his chest, adoring the way his cock was now fully hard and resting against her navel.

Rook sat up slowly. Making a show of it. Not at all missing how he tracked the sway of her tits. Nor did she miss how he traced the contours of her curves a second later, creating a sudden spark of warmth in her abdomen. 

She grabbed his cock in her hand, sliding up his shaft slow enough for him to hiss through his teeth. There was the pressing urge to tease him with her words, to ask if something was wrong. Maybe make him beg for it. 

Maybe call him out for his pride.

Instead she yanked him closer to his release. Stroking down and bending at the waist to press a kiss to his tip. She stayed like that, bent over his body with her mouth hovering over his cock. Her tongue flicked out, moving gently back and forth to lap up the shiny gleam of pre cum that had formed. 

“You’re quiet up there.” Rook pointed out, glancing up at him through her lashes. “You won’t burn under the weight of your sins if you give me some noise, honey.” The whine he let out at her words were more from distress than pleasure she was sure, but she’d take it. It made slick pool between her thighs nonetheless.

As much as she loved seeing him squirm under her touch, afraid to show the slightest ounce of enjoyment, she was needy too. And he could help her with that, he wasn’t  _that_ far gone. 

Rook stayed silent as she crawled up his body. Moving carefully so as not to crush him with her knees, moving until her pussy hovered teasingly above his face. She hesitated before tracing along his jaw, huffing a laugh when he leaned into her touch. 

She snatched off his glasses a second later. Wondering why she didn’t do that earlier. She had been missing out. Because like this she could see the stormy indecision in his baby blues. And the lust he was trying to hide. The one thing he didn’t try to conceal was his anger for her.

Which made her laugh before she descended, shoving her cunt against his lips. Tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling him forward. There were a few beats of silence where nothing happened. His mouth formed stubbornly in a thin line. Until he opened up to breathe out a sigh. 

Joseph’s tongue darted out. Brushing against her clit and making her jump at the sudden contact. She swore she felt him smile. That thought was out of her mind in an instant when he doubled his efforts. It was sloppy, like he was out of practice, though that could’ve been the drugs. Which was an interesting thought, that if she had gotten to him willingly that he would’ve made her sing.

Rook grinded down on him. Letting out her moans like a wanton whore as he slurped at her juices. Sucking her nub into his mouth and running his teeth over the sensitive bud.

“Easy there Joseph.” 

He hummed against her pussy, eyes closed in what looked like utter bliss as he worked on making her cum. It didn’t take much, with how long it had been and how quickly he was moving she finished with her hand grabbing ahold of the headboard. Humping down until she heard him sputter and cough. 

Rook couldn’t help but kiss him after a performance like that. Slipping down his body before locking their lips together, tasting herself on his beard. 

“You did so good.” She whispered, nipping at his bottom lip with a smile. “You wanna cum?” When she pulled back, seated on his hips with his cock prodding dangerously close to her entrance, she saw the wrath he still held in his eyes. Closer to resentment now that she looked a little longer.

He didn’t answer her, understandably so, resigning himself for now. She felt that in the way his muscles relaxed under her. Everything going lax as she lined up his cock with her twitching pussy. She swallowed him greedily, shaking her hips gently to draw a moan out of him. It sounded broken and hollow, like she had tore him open from the inside out. 

“Oh you sound so sweet for me.” Rook cooed, reaching out to cup his cheek. Her fingers pulled at his beard as she rocked in and out of him, making a flicker of annoyance cross over his face. 

“Deputy.” 

“Hm?” She flashed him a smile, one that quickly went away when his cock curved up and prodded at a small bundle of nerves inside her. He kept up like that when he saw her face drop, mouth forming a small ‘O.’ His hips rocked up, keeping in time with how she dropped down on him.

She came undone like that for the second time. Moving her hand down to rub along her folds as he rocked away inside of her. Her cunt squeezed down on his dick, making him writhe and hiss through clenched teeth. She felt him twitch before he came in long ropey strands in her pussy. Drawing a moan from them both.

Rook didn’t waste any time collapsing on him. Resting her cheek on his sweaty chest. Just basking in the glow of what they’ve done, content with hearing the fast pitter patter of his heart. Beating wildly against his ribcage like a bird trapped.

“Are we done here deputy?”

She grunted, rolling off him and pulling his flaccid dick out of her. He winced at the fast movement, anger ruining his features once more. Rook couldn’t help herself, leaning in one last time to lay a kiss to his lips before untying him. 

She watched him stumble around as he clumsily dressed himself, her muscles feeling restless with the urge to go over and offer her help before he fell and cracked open his skull.

“Need a lift home?” She ventured.

“No.” He was being short with her. Blunt.

“And how do you expect to get tucked in your bed safe and sound?” She asked with a tip of her head. Watching him fiddle with his belt with a frown. “Anyone would be able to see from a mile away how disoriented you are. Besides, what if someone less...caring got their hands on you, Father?”

“Don’t call me that!” Joseph snarled, taking rushed steps towards her. And despite herself she felt a burst of adrenaline flood her system as she straightened her back, feeling herself hit into a wall. Fingers suddenly itching to grab any sort of weapon. “You are not apart of my flock. You don’t have the right!”

His chest was heaving. Fingers balled into fists by his sides. “I have a reputation to uphold.” He continued, swiveling on the ball of his foot when she shimmied past him, moving to sit on the edge of her bed. “My people see me in a certain light and I cannot simply go back to my compound--or even my family for that matter--with these on my skin.” His finger jabbed at his collarbone, where a hickey was already forming from when she sucked and nipped at his flesh.

Rook didn’t have an answer for him. Instead reaching for his glasses to hold out for him. Tugging open the bedside table’s drawer until her hand tangled around his rosary. 

“Godspeed then.” She murmured. Head bent low in a faux show of humility.

“Fuck you.”

Her head snapped up quickly. Eyes blown wide at his language. But he had already turned around and flung open the bedroom door to leave. He stopped before he left fully, a hand raised to run through his mess of hair. “I hope you know I intend to tell John of this. He should be coming to get you by morning.” 

Then he was gone. For real this time. Nothing left but her rumpled sheet and his faint, musky smell.

It was so fucking worth it.


	50. [Seed Noncon pt 2] John/Rook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rook continues her fun and sneaks into John’s house to treat him

Getting into John’s ranch was easier than she thought. She spent a whole week scoping his land from various snipers nests that almost got her caught on numerous occasions. By the end she created a sketchy blueprint that she figured was the closest she’d get to the interior of his home. All just to get a peak at the baptist behind closed doors. 

She scoffed. What a waste.

Because all it really took was the climbing skills of an energetic child and she was in. Popping open an unlocked window and muddying his wooden floors with the dirt on her boots. She found herself in a bedroom that most certainly didn’t belong to a certain county’s Seed. Either that or he was roaming his home instead of resting at two in the morning. Though judging by how bare the room was she figured she’d have to snoop around to find him. 

Rook kept her steps light. Moving ball to heel fluidly, wincing at how the door creaked on its hinges when she eased it open. With no source of light indicating where he could be and no idea of the layout of the second floor, she was left to guess and check. 

Walking slowly down the hall and swinging open doors. Pausing after each one in case he heard the squeaking of a rusty hinge or her misstep on a creaky floorboard. 

His room was the third one she opened. Smaller than she would’ve thought. Not like she had anything to boast about considering her current living situation fluctuate between the county’s jail and Nick’s couch. Besides, she wasn’t here to critique his ranch. She was here to find him. To give him a little taste of what his brother had.

And find him she did. Laying on his bed spread eagle, already assuming the position. It made her job easier. She had no way of telling if he was a light sleeper, scared that the slightest shift in his limbs would rouse him. 

Bliss should do. She wasn’t stupid or cruel. Using any kind of drug that wasn’t the all natural one Eden’s Gate produced would be dangerous for a man with his past. 

Rook crossed the floor with ease. Not making a single sound, and for that she was proud. Taking the next steps quickly, lest he woke up by the grace of his God looking out for him. In all honesty though if God wasn’t keeping Joseph safe then she doubted He’d have a firm handle on His baptist. 

She was proved right when he took the bliss with no trouble at all. Merely shifting in his sleep as the powder clogged his nose and left a light dusting on his skin.

He was cute when he slept. All innocent intentions as he curled up in the fetal position at the disturbance, like he was trying to get away. 

“Good luck with that Johnny.” Her hand fell on the waistband of his pyjamas, some orange, plaid thing that reminded her of christmas. It came off easy enough, with him kicking his legs out with an annoyed huff. Her fingertips ghosted across the front of his boxers. Frowning at that picture. She always imagined him going commando, or at least wearing something tighter under those jeans of his.

Rook squeezed at his cock, massaging his length between her fingers until she felt him harden. Not bothering to hide her laugh when he whined. Still blissfully asleep for now, content to let her strip him fully and tie up his hands and legs to his bedposts.

She imagined he’d be more inclined to participate than Joseph was. But she was stupid. Letting him have control of this night was dangerous. She’d end up being the one with bruises, or locked away in a cell deep underground. 

Her hands roamed his body freely while he was still pliant under her touch. She traversed over scars both old and new and tattoos that she never knew he had. She couldn’t be surprised though, not when his arms were inked to hell and back. It suited him though, anything less than the amalgamation of black and white along tanned skin would be strange. Rook also didn’t expect the amount of hair he had. Not as much as she assumed Jacob sported--god she would kill to find that out one day--but it was enough to make her pause. To reign in her lust before she jammed his cock inside her and ended this way too soon.

It was a light spattering of hair that led down his navel and towards his cock. Which was curved and long. He was uncut and pure. Absolutely perfect.

“Wanna wake up for me, John?” Rook cooed softly into his ear. Kissing at the lobe before ghosting her lips along his cheek. 

He woke slowly with the help of her gentle touches, kept innocent for now. The bliss keeping him docile. His blown out pupils were evidence of that, as was his half cocked smile when he saw her. “Deputy...to what---” he coughed, brows scrunching down, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

She returned his smile with whole heartedness. Brushing her fingers through his hair, unkempt and silky and smelling like peaches when she leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Oh darling, I think that statement should be the other way ‘round.”

He gave her an utter look of confusion, once again his eyebrows came down and his nose wrinkled sweetly. “What?” He whispered it, for the first time craning his head around before his eyes widened. “What did you...did you drug me? In my own home?”

Now he was getting it. That friendly charisma he was so good at was turning into wrath.

“Smart boy.” She praised, kissing at his neck only to tsk lightly when he tried to pull away. “No, no, none of that John. C’mon, the whole county knows you want me.”

She’s never seen a man so conflicted. Torn between her and the teaching of the project. “If you’ve come to flip the tables, to take my confession--”

“I never took you for naive.” Her fingers trailed over his skin, moving down his chest and circling around a nipple. The action made his whole body shudder. And when he looked up at her she swore she saw the beginning of regret. 

“You can’t do this.”

“No? Why not? Do you not want this?” She wasn’t about to point out that he was responding so well to how she pinched at his nipples or how he was rock hard with his cock trapped between their bodies.

“Joseph’ll be mad.” His words were slurred, head trying to drop to his chest to hide. “He won’t trust me to lead others into Eden if I can’t resist temptation.”

Her mouth attached itself to his nipple, ignoring his words. Sucking and teething to distract him. It worked well, because a moment later he was wiggling his hips, trying to seek out some sort of pleasing friction.

She pulled away with a pop. “You do want this. You’re just scared.”

He hummed his agreement. And when she pulled away, sliding down his body to grasp at his cock, she saw the wetness in his eyes. “I’ll accept you. As would the resistance.”

John huffed, angry again even with her pumping his cock quickly. She couldn’t admit that the thought of him being Judas sounded amazing. Converstion through a quick fuck. Joseph would have her head if he knew what she was doing.

It made her wonder why his home wasn’t guarded like Fort Knox after what she did to him.

“What are you thinking about?” John asked softly, sounding more sober as the minutes ticked by. 

“‘Bout how much you don’t want this.” She lied effortlessly.

He whined when she pulled away. Hands trying to follow her, only to be met with the ropes yanking him back. 

“Easy there John. Just catching up.” Rook tore off her shirt as fast as she could, climbing off him until she managed to snag off her jeans and panties, taking her shoes with it. 

He looked desperate and wanting, eyes tracking her as she straddled him again. She didn’t waste anytime grabbing his cock, unwilling to tease him. Moving her thumb to smear in his pre cum. Tracing around his tip until his eyes rolled in the back of his head.

He was strangely quiet. Teeth sinking into his bottom lip as she teased him. Watching how his dick twitched. She was right in thinking he wouldn’t be adverse to her touch. He was just impatient. 

Squirming and wiggling, making it extremely difficult to stay seated on his hips. 

Rook planted her free hand down above his dick, pushing until his eyes met hers. “Stay still.”

There was a beat of silence. Just the sound of his gentle sighs and the wet shlick of her pumping him. “I don’t understand why I’m tied down. If you wanted to fuck me—“

“I wanted to control you.” She laughed. Twisting her hand and moving faster. Fast enough that words couldn’t come to him, where he was writhing around against his sheets. 

She pulled back before he could cum. She knew he’d be as mad as her for not getting inside her. Which was why he probably didn’t protest. Sagging with a grunt, looking at her through hooded eyes. 

Rook rose up on her knees, all show as she pinched her nipples and moved her hand down between her thighs. Her wrist flicked around with practiced movements. Finding her nub and circling it. 

“I could do that for you.” He suggested, though the smile he gave was shaky at best. 

“Mhm. Maybe next time.” And with that she was lining herself up and sliding all the way down. Taking him fully and moaning along with him. She didn’t miss how he smiled at her words.

“There’s gonna be a next time?” 

“Depends how good this is.” She rocked her hips, waiting for her body to adjust to his length. “Might prefer on of your brothers.”

There was a crinkle to his brows as she fucked him. A deep concentration to each movement. And he had front row seats. Paying close attention to how she bounced up and down effortlessly. 

When she bent at the waist, cupping his head to kiss at his cheek, he took a nipple in his mouth. Playing with her chest expertly. Running his tongue over the rosy bud with a hum that sent vibrations straight to her clit. 

“Good—good boy.” She praised softly, her words breaking off into a moan as her fingers went down to her folds. She came seconds later, with the feeling of his cock slipping in and out of her smoothly. He followed when she clenched around him, his teeth tugging at her nipple in feeble retaliation. 

They stayed like that for a while. Until John’s racing heartbeat steadied and her adrenaline was no longer pumping. He was quiet when she untied him, furling in on himself to loosen his muscles. 

She stood with a final glance at his sleepy form, stretching with a groan. She felt his eyes on her the entire time she dressed. Tracking her around his room and stopping her as she opened his door to leave. 

“You could take the front door this time Deputy.”

“Yeah?” Rook glanced over her shoulder to catch his smile, “what do you think this is?”

“I—I dunno.” He sounded small again, afraid. “Depends on if you come back.” 

If his brothers ever found out, that wasn’t gonna happen. They both knew that.


End file.
